Theoretical and experimental studies on coupler based fiber optic displacement sensor with concave mirror

A new fiber optic displacement sensor (FODS) is proposed and demonstrated using a multimode fiber coupler as a sensor probe and a concave mirror as a reflective target. A mathematical model is also developed to investigate the performance of proposed FODS at various coupling ratio, fiber diameter, and surrounding media. Three slopes are obtained for the displacement response where the third slope starts at a displacement position of twice the focal length. The numerical results show that higher performance is attained at lower coupler ratio of 50:50 or smaller core diameter. The results also show that the proposed FODS has a potential application in liquid and gas chemical sensors. The experimental performances are also investigated for the proposed sensor where it is observed that the second peak of the displacement curve is located at exactly two times of the focal length or 20 mm.