Temperature-independent polymer optical fiber evanescent wave sensor

Although the numerous advantages of polymer optical fibers have been exploited in the fields of sensors and telecommunications, such fibers still experience a critical problem: the temperature dependency. Therefore, we explored the temperature-independent operation of a polymer fiber-optic evanescent wave sensor immersed in distilled water. We investigated variations in the surface morphology, deformation trajectory, refractive index, and weight of the fiber-sensing region with varying water temperature. We also examined the spectral transmission and transmitted light intensity of fibers subjected to a heating-cooling treatment. We observed that the light-transmission modes and sensitivity of the sensor were affected by changes in the surface morphology, diameter, and refractive index of the sensing region caused by changes in temperature. The transmitted light intensity of the sensor was maintained at a constant level after five cycles of the heating-cooling treatment, after which the fibers exhibited a smooth surface, low refractive index, and large fiber diameter. Consequently, we utilized the heating-cooling-treated fiber to realize a temperature-independent, U-shaped polymer fiber-optic evanescent wave sensor. The temperature independence was evaluated using glucose solutions in the range of 10 to 70 °C. The fabricated sensor showed significant temperature independence and high degree of consistency in measuring solutions.