Plastic optical fibre sensors and devices

• Published in: Transactions of the Institute of Measurement and Control Vol. 22; no. 5; pp. 431 - 457
• Main Authors: Bartlett, Rebecca J., Philip-Chandy, Rekha, Eldridge, Piers, Merchant, David F., Morgan, Roger, Scully, Patricia J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Thousand Oaks, CA SAGE Publications 01-12-2000
• Subjects: turbidity; fluorescence; optical fibre sensor; multimode; environmental measurement; polymethylmethacrylate; particle concentration; flow; polymer optical fibre
• ISSN: 0142-3312; 1477-0369
• DOI: 10.1177/014233120002200507

This paper considers the impact of recent developments in polymer optical fibre (POF) and its application in optical fibre sensors and optical measurement. A discussion of techniques developed for POF-based sensors and devices, and their applications includes sensors to measure flow, biofilm growth, turbidity, toxicity, humidity, rotation and fluorescence. Techniques to photoinduce refractive index changes and physical gratings into POF, and chemically to remove the cladding and taper plastic optical fibres are described, along with the use of fluorescent dye-doped plastic optical fibres (FPOF) in sensors and devices.