A dissolved oxygen (DO) sensor based on U-shape plastic optical fiber (POF) and dichlorotris (1, 10-phenanthroline) ruthenium ([Ru(dpp) ]2 ) as an oxygen indicator was described. Fluorescence intensity and lifetime were measured when the sensor was soaked into a water bath blasted with air with varied O2/N2 ratios. The influence of Ru concentration, annealing time and U-shaped POF curve radius on the system sensitivity was also studied. A two-layer model was proposed to analyze the deviation from linear relation described by Stern-Volmer equation, and to explain the deviation and the dependence of the fluorescence on curvature of U-shape POF. By fitting the experimentally measured sub-linear relation of \tau0/\tau ratio versus oxygen concentration, the proportion of effectively sensitive layer and the Stern-Volmer coefficient can be evaluated to be f=0.59 and KSV=0.61 typically.