A specially designed laser-dye-doped polymer optical fiber (POF) was drawn and investigated experimentally. The cladding of the POF was doped with Rhodamine 640 and pumped with a compact and low-cost 532-nm diode-pumped solid-state laser. By using the side-illumination fluorescence technique, any section along the POF can act as an intrinsic light source. The fluorescence power of the dye-doped POF under side-illumination was improved by more than 10 times by a bending method. With this enhancement, the issue of coupling light into the POF becomes simpler, cheaper, and more consistent, constructing a practical platform for a sensing system.
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