Propagation of the fundamental mode in curved graded index multimode fiber and its application in sensor systems

A novel principle of light transmission through very small radius bend in optical fibers is presented. The potential applications of the proposed structure are fiber optic sensors and other fiber optic systems. The design makes use of graded index multimode fiber as transmission medium. However, the feed to the multimode fiber is through a single mode fiber to ensure that only the lowest order spatial mode is launched. Similarly the receiver is also coupled to the sensing element through a single mode fiber. The fundamental mode within graded index multimode fiber proves to be very insensitive to macrobends if bend radius is larger than certain critical value. If bend radius is reduced below critical value the loss increases very rapidly and this allows for construction of relatively sensitive macrobend fiber optic sensor. This work presents a quantitative theoretical model of the proposed structure and a detailed experimental investigation of structure with possibilities for its practical applications.