We implement the strain and temperature sensors based on multimode interference in perfluorinated (PF) graded-index (GI) plastic optical fibers, and investigate their sensing performance at 1300 nm. We obtain strain and temperature sensitivities of À112 pm="=m and þ49:8 nm= C/m, the absolute value of which are 12.9 and over 1800 times as large as those in silica GI multimode fibers, respectively. These ultra-high strain and temperature sensitivities probably originate from the unique core material, i.e., PF polymer.

With their characteristics of low density and elastic moduli, polymers are promising materials for making ultrasonic motors (USMs) with high energy density. Although it has been believed for a long time that polymers are too lossy to be applied to high-amplitude vibrators, there are several new polymers that exhibit excellent vibration characteristics. First, we measure the damping coefficients of some functional polymers to explore the applicability of polymers as vibrators for USMs. Second, to investigate the vibration characteristics, we fabricate bimorph vibrators using several kinds of polymers that have low attenuation. Third, a bending mode USM is fabricated with a polymer rod and four piezoelectric plates bonded on the rod as a typical example of a USM. Through an experimental investigation of the motor performance, it was found that the polymer-based USMs exhibited higher rotation velocity than the aluminum-based USM under a light preload, although the maximum torque of the polymer-based USMs was smaller than the aluminum-based USM. Among the tested polymers, polyphenylenesulfide was a prospective material for USMs under light preloads because of the high amplitude and lightweight of polyphenylenesulfide.

It has been reported that temperature sensors based on modal interference in perfluorinated graded-index polymer optical fibers show extremely high temperature sensitivity at room temperature. In this work, we confirm that the temperature sensitivity (absolute value) is significantly enhanced when the temperature increases toward ∼70 °C, which is close to the glass-transition temperature of the core polymer. When the core diameter is 62.5 µm, the sensitivity at 72 °C at 1300 nm is 202 nm/°C/m, which is approximately 26 times the value obtained at room temperature and >7000 times the highest value previously reported using a silica multimode fiber.

With the characteristics of low density, low elastic modulus, and low mechanical loss, poly(phenylene sulfide) (PPS) is a promising material for fabricating lightweight ultrasonic motors (USMs). For the first time, we used PPS to fabricate an annular elastomer with teeth and glued a piece of piezoelectric-ceramic annular disk to the bottom of the elastomer to form a vibrator. To explore for a material suitable for the rotor surface coming in contact with the PPS-based vibrator, several disk-shaped rotors made of different materials were fabricated to form traveling wave USMs. The polymer-based USM rotates successfully as the conventional metal-based USMs. The experimental results show that the USM with the aluminum rotor has the largest torque, which indicates that aluminum is the most suitable for the rotor surface among the tested materials.

Acoustic radiation force (ARF) imaging has been developed as a novel elastography technology to diagnose hepatic disease and breast cancer. The accuracy of shear wave speed estimation, which is one of the applications of ARF elastography, is studied. The Young's moduli of pig liver and foie gras samples estimated from the shear wave speed were compared with those measured the static Young's modulus measurement. The difference in the two methods was 8%. Distance attenuation characteristics of the shear wave were also studied using finite element method (FEM) analysis. We found that the differences in the axial and lateral beam widths in pressure and ARF are 16 and 9% at F-number=0.9. We studied the relationship between two branch points in distance attenuation characteristics and the shape of ARF. We found that the maximum measurable length to estimate shear wave speed for one ARF excitation was 8 mm.