Analysis of Fibre Cross-Coupling Mechanisms in Fibre-Optical Force Sensors.

The force-enhanced light coupling between two optical fibres is investigated for the application in a pressure or force sensor, which can be arranged into arrays and integrated into textile surfaces. The optical coupling mechanisms such as the influence of the applied force, the losses at the coupling point and the angular alignment of the two fibres are studied experimentally and numerically. The results reveal that most of the losses occur at the deformation of the pump fibre.