The influence of temperature to a refractive index sensor based on a macro-bending tapered plastic optical fiber

• The temperature influence to a macro-bending tapered POF RI sensor was studied.
• The temperature dependence RI deviation of the sensor itself was obtained.
• The RI correction of the sensor in varied ambient temperature was given.

The temperature influence to a refractive index (RI) sensor based on a macro-bending tapered plastic optical fiber (POF) was investigated experimentally. The total temperature dependence loss (TDLtotal) and total temperature dependence RI deviation (TDRtotal) were measured at different temperature (10–60 °C) over an RI range of 1.33–1.41. The temperature dependence RI deviation of the sensor itself was obtained by subtracting the temperature dependence RI of measured liquid from TDRtotal. Therefore, the influence of temperature variation to the sensor was characterized and corrected.