Design and simulation of a novel fungus-shaped center embossed diaphragm for fiber optic pressure sensors

Abstract

A novel structure with a fungus-shaped center embossed diaphragm (FCED) geometry has been proposed to modify in diaphragm-based Fabry-Perot fiber optic pressure sensors (FP-FOPS). The proposed FCED geometry was obtained by adding a pillar between the mesa and diaphragm. Before the simulation analysis of FCED, we derived mathematical equations of attenuation factor widening the acceptance radius. The attenuation factor is defined to understand sensor loss, which is neglected in the literature. With this derived formula, the light reflected from the deflected diaphragm and the light unguided in the fiber was detected. Since the deformation angle is zeroized in the FCED structures, the sensor loss due to the attenuation factor is eliminated. All the incident light being re-guided in the fiber. With FCED design’s help, the decreasing sensitivity in the center embossed diaphragms (CED) has been prevented. Moreover, the deviation of the frequency response of FCED remains lower than 1% compared with the results of conventional diaphragms. As a result, it produces a more stable sensor, and the FCED structure is less affected by manufacturing errors. The researchers can benefit from the use of our presented results when designing and producing new diaphragm-based FP-FOPS.