Side-polished fiber optic pressure sensor based on stress optical property of polymer planar waveguides

A pressure sensor with a high measurement capability and wide range, based on a single mode side-polished fiber and polymer planar waveguide, is presented. It was found that resonance wavelength shifts occur due to variations in the refractive index of polymers relative to pressure, and this sensitivity depends on the waveguiding polymer. A symmetric structure for the planar waveguide was adopted to eliminate polarization dependence which is inevitable with a side-polished fiber. THB-30, AZ1512 and polystyrene were used as the planar waveguide polymers, and resonance wavelength shifts caused by applied pressure were exhibited at 0.16 nm/bar, 0.033 nm/bar and 0.024 nm/bar, respectively.