A humidity sensor based on a singlemode-side polished multimode-singlemode (SSPMS) optical fibre structure coated with gelatin

A novel relative humidity sensor based on a singlemode-side polished multimode-singlemode (SSPMS) fibre structure coated with gelatin material is reported. The sensing principle and fabrication method of the proposed sensor are presented. The experimental method is demonstrated to provide the optimum thickness of coating layers in order to achieve the highest sensitivity of 0.14 dB/%RH and a fast response time of 1000 ms for a given RH sensing range. The developed humidity fibre optic sensor based on a gelatin coating shows great potential for many applications such as industrial production, food processing and environmental monitoring.