PRESSURE SENSITIVITY OF SIDE-HOLE OPTICAL-FIBER SENSORS

The dependency of the pressure-induced birefringence of a side-hole fi ber on its geometry has been numerically investigated using the finite element method. We demonstrate that the pressure sensitivity of such a fiber shows a linear dependence on phi(2), where phi is the angle be tween the side hole center and core center aids and the core center to side-hole tangent, Experimental data obtained with two different side -hole fiber sensors are shown to agree extremely well (to within 1 %) with theoretical predictions.