A pressure sensor using tapered optical fiber and curved polymer films

Abstract

A pressure or touch sensor is proposed by using a tapered optical fiber and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) curved films. Under pressure, the light in the tapered optical fiber is partially leaked into the films by the evanescent field properties. The optical attenuation of the tapered optical fiber is directly related to the pressure change and sensitive to the profile of the film. By monitoring the change of the transmitted optical power of the tapered optical fiber, the change of pressure is measured.