Photonics Research, 2019, 7 (7): 07000792, Published Online: Jun. 21, 2019
Nanoliter liquid refractive index sensing using a silica V-groove fiber interferometer Download: 514次
Abstract
A unique all-fiber interferometric sensor was proposed and successfully demonstrated efficient low-refractive-index liquid sensing in the range from 1.33 to 1.37, which is compatible with those of bio-liquids. A special silica coreless optical fiber with an open V-groove was used as an optical sensing medium, which provided a high sensitivity for a minute liquid volume in the nanoliter scale. The V-groove fiber (VGF) was serially concatenated between two single-mode fibers (SMFs). The LP01 mode guided along the input SMF excited the higher-order modes in the VGF to generate multimode interference, whose spectrum was transmitted through the output SMF. A single liquid droplet with volume of ~ 80 nanoliters wet the entire hydrophilic surface of the VGF, and the transmission spectra shifted corresponding to its refractive index in a very linear manner. The sensor also showed a negligible temperature cross-sensitivity in the range 25°C–75°C, which overlaps with the biological temperature window such that the sensitivity of 159.696 nm per refractive index unit (nm/RIU) remained independent of the temperature variation. Modal properties of VGF were thoroughly analyzed numerically, and detailed processes for the sensor fabrication and sensing experiments were reported.
Quan Chai, Hyeonwoo Lee, Seongjin Hong, Yongsoo Lee, Junbum Park, Jianzhong Zhang, Kyunghwan Oh. Nanoliter liquid refractive index sensing using a silica V-groove fiber interferometer[J]. Photonics Research, 2019, 7(7): 07000792.