D-Shaped Plastic Optical Fibers: Fabrication and Characterization as Refractive Index Sensor

Abstract

This work presents the fabrication and characterization of a D-shaped plastic optical fiber based refractive index sensor. It is used in sensing the refractive index of different liquids and solutions with glycerin. The sensor fabrication process is based on the side polishing of a plastic optical fiber to build the structure known as the D-shaped section. The performed measurements allowed the characterization of the sensor sensitivity and resolution, and they indicate the device has potential application as a concentration sensor in liquid mixtures or as a contaminant detector.