D-Shaped POF Sensors for Refractive Index Sensing—The Importance of Surface Roughness
In this study the influence of the surface roughness on the transmission capacities of D-shaped plastic optical fibers (POFs) and sensors performance was investigated. Five D-shaped POF sensors were produced and characterized for refractive index sensing between 1.33 and 1.41. The sensors were chara...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2019-05-01
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| Series: | Sensors |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/19/11/2476 |
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| author | Filipa Sequeira Nunzio Cennamo Alisa Rudnitskaya Rogério Nogueira Luigi Zeni Lúcia Bilro |
| author_facet | Filipa Sequeira Nunzio Cennamo Alisa Rudnitskaya Rogério Nogueira Luigi Zeni Lúcia Bilro |
| author_sort | Filipa Sequeira |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this study the influence of the surface roughness on the transmission capacities of D-shaped plastic optical fibers (POFs) and sensors performance was investigated. Five D-shaped POF sensors were produced and characterized for refractive index sensing between 1.33 and 1.41. The sensors were characterized using a low-cost optical sensing system based on the variation of the transmitted light though the POF with refractive index changes (RI). Higher surface roughness increases the scattering losses through the POF and influences the sensors’ performance; therefore, a balance must be attained. Generally, the best performance was achieved when the sensing region was polished with P600 sandpaper as a final polishing step. Polishing with sandpapers of lower grit size resulted in lower scattering, higher linearity of the sensor response and generally lower performance for RI sensing. A sensor resolution of 10<sup>−3</sup>−10<sup>−4</sup> RIU, dependent on the value of the external refractive index, was obtained through simple and low-cost manufacturing procedures. The obtained results show the importance of surface roughness in the development of POF sensors which can be used in several applications, such as for water quality assessment. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T00:49:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-dad48d94bbf64bf1b28954769d3a0065 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1424-8220 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T00:49:19Z |
| publishDate | 2019-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sensors |
| spelling | doaj.art-dad48d94bbf64bf1b28954769d3a00652022-12-22T03:09:55ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202019-05-011911247610.3390/s19112476s19112476D-Shaped POF Sensors for Refractive Index Sensing—The Importance of Surface RoughnessFilipa Sequeira0Nunzio Cennamo1Alisa Rudnitskaya2Rogério Nogueira3Luigi Zeni4Lúcia Bilro5Instituto de Telecomunicações, 3810-193 Aveiro, PortugalDepartment of Engineering, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, 81031 Aversa, ItalyCESAM, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, PortugalInstituto de Telecomunicações, 3810-193 Aveiro, PortugalDepartment of Engineering, University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli, 81031 Aversa, ItalyInstituto de Telecomunicações, 3810-193 Aveiro, PortugalIn this study the influence of the surface roughness on the transmission capacities of D-shaped plastic optical fibers (POFs) and sensors performance was investigated. Five D-shaped POF sensors were produced and characterized for refractive index sensing between 1.33 and 1.41. The sensors were characterized using a low-cost optical sensing system based on the variation of the transmitted light though the POF with refractive index changes (RI). Higher surface roughness increases the scattering losses through the POF and influences the sensors’ performance; therefore, a balance must be attained. Generally, the best performance was achieved when the sensing region was polished with P600 sandpaper as a final polishing step. Polishing with sandpapers of lower grit size resulted in lower scattering, higher linearity of the sensor response and generally lower performance for RI sensing. A sensor resolution of 10<sup>−3</sup>−10<sup>−4</sup> RIU, dependent on the value of the external refractive index, was obtained through simple and low-cost manufacturing procedures. The obtained results show the importance of surface roughness in the development of POF sensors which can be used in several applications, such as for water quality assessment.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/19/11/2476optical fiber sensors (OFS)plastic optical fibers (POF)D-shaped POF sensorslow-cost sensorsintensity modulationrefractive index (RI) sensingsurface roughness |
| spellingShingle | Filipa Sequeira Nunzio Cennamo Alisa Rudnitskaya Rogério Nogueira Luigi Zeni Lúcia Bilro D-Shaped POF Sensors for Refractive Index Sensing—The Importance of Surface Roughness Sensors optical fiber sensors (OFS) plastic optical fibers (POF) D-shaped POF sensors low-cost sensors intensity modulation refractive index (RI) sensing surface roughness |
| title | D-Shaped POF Sensors for Refractive Index Sensing—The Importance of Surface Roughness |
| title_full | D-Shaped POF Sensors for Refractive Index Sensing—The Importance of Surface Roughness |
| title_fullStr | D-Shaped POF Sensors for Refractive Index Sensing—The Importance of Surface Roughness |
| title_full_unstemmed | D-Shaped POF Sensors for Refractive Index Sensing—The Importance of Surface Roughness |
| title_short | D-Shaped POF Sensors for Refractive Index Sensing—The Importance of Surface Roughness |
| title_sort | d shaped pof sensors for refractive index sensing the importance of surface roughness |
| topic | optical fiber sensors (OFS) plastic optical fibers (POF) D-shaped POF sensors low-cost sensors intensity modulation refractive index (RI) sensing surface roughness |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/19/11/2476 |
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