3D-printed mold-assisted U-shaped optical fiber sensor for displacement sensing

We proposed a U-shaped optical fiber sensor formed by using self-made 3D-printed mold. Compared to previous fabrication methods of U-shaped fiber sensors, the utilized 3D-printed mold can not only effectively control the radius of U-shaped structure but also enhance the mechanical strength of the sensor by filling PDMS into the mold. The measured displacement sensing performance for the fabricated U-shaped fiber sensor with bending radius of 10mm can realize high displacement sensing sensitivity of 53 pm/μm, and the temperature response is −0.51 nm/°C.