Side-emitting properties of POFs with surface patterns in bent woven fabrics

Abstract

The surface of polymer optical fibers (POFs) was treated by CO2 laser. The side-emitting behavior of POF with surface modification pattern under various bending radius were investigated while simulating the deformation of POF in real woven fabrics. The power of side-emitting light increased a little while the bending radius increased. The side-emitting light of the POF with this kind of surface modification pattern mainly comes from the rough surface. A little of increase of the side-emitting light is the result of the increase of the macro-bending and microbending loss. The intensity of side-emitting light under different bending condition was also measured in luminous woven POF fabrics. The power density on the luminous fabric almost kept constant.