Laser & Optoelectronics Progress, Volume. 62, Issue 13, 1306009(2025)

High-Sensitivity Fiber-Optic Tactile Force Sensor Based on Tapered Fiber and Optical Vernier Effect

Tianyi He, Yangjun Zheng, Deming Liu, Liang Wang*, and Ming Tang
Author Affiliations
  • National Engineering Laboratory for Next Generation Internet Access System, School of Optics and Electronic Information, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074, Hubei , China
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    With the rapid development of smart healthcare, humanoid robotics, and virtual and augmented reality technologies, optic fiber force sensors attract increasing attention due to their advantages of high sensitivity, high precision, rapid response, and immunity to electromagnetic interference. To address the environmental disturbance susceptibility of traditional optical fiber force sensors, we propose a cascaded sensitivity enhancement scheme based on the vernier effect using tapered optical fibers. A TOF sensor with a 65 mm taper length is fabricated, achieving a sensitivity of -2.08 nm/N under pressures ranging from 0 to 1 N. After cascading this sensor with a second tapered optical fiber, the maximum sensitivity increased to 10.11 nm/N. The results indicate that the vernier effect can effectively enhance force sensitivity. This high sensitivity exhibits significant application potential in fields such as smart healthcare and robotic tactile sensing.

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    Tianyi He, Yangjun Zheng, Deming Liu, Liang Wang, Ming Tang. High-Sensitivity Fiber-Optic Tactile Force Sensor Based on Tapered Fiber and Optical Vernier Effect[J]. Laser & Optoelectronics Progress, 2025, 62(13): 1306009

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    Paper Information

    Category: Fiber Optics and Optical Communications

    Received: Jun. 5, 2025

    Accepted: Jun. 16, 2025

    Published Online: Jul. 16, 2025

    The Author Email: Liang Wang (hustwl@hust.edu.cn)

    DOI:10.3788/LOP251394

    CSTR:32186.14.LOP251394

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