微米级锥形光纤的近场光镊

分别从理论和实验上分析了光纤表面倏逝场强度的分布(z=10 nm, 100 nm, 500 nm,1 000 nm),研究了微米级光纤光镊对微球的操纵。实验中把直径为125 m的普通单模光纤拉制成锥腰直径为2 m的锥形光纤。当光纤通光时,在光纤锥区倏逝场的作用下,直径3 m的聚苯乙烯微球保持平衡状态,并且光纤附近的微球被吸引到光纤表面,以5.3 m /s的速度沿着光束的传播方向运动。这个实验不仅实现了对微球的成功捕获,而且验证了光纤光镊的力学作用。光纤光镊对微球的无接触、无损伤操纵,将在生物传感领域有潜在的应用。     

基于腐蚀光纤的温度及葡萄糖溶液浓度传感器

提出并制备了一种基于本征倏逝波原理的温度及葡萄糖溶液浓度传感器.通过研究腐蚀包层厚度与透射光谱之间的关系,确定较为合适的腐蚀厚度.将标准单模光纤包层腐蚀至2.4μm,利用光纤倏逝波对外界介质变化敏感的原理,通过测量输出光功率的变化量实现温度及葡萄糖溶液浓度传感.实验结果表明:传感器在1070℃的温度范围内具有9.58×10~(-3) dBm/℃的灵敏度,线性度达到99.36%;在葡萄糖溶液03%的浓度范围内具有0.126dBm/(g/L)的灵敏度,线性度达到97.95%.该传感器的响应时间小于30s,具有操作简便、测量准确度高、重复性好、适用范围广等优点,具备良好的应用价值.     

Electroless silver plating on tetraethoxy silane-bridged fiber glass

Tetraethoxy silane was used to functionalize the surface of fiber glass (FG) for adsorption with the electroless plated silver shell. The performance of electroless silver plated FG with tetraethoxy silane modification was compared to that of unmodified FG in terms of mechanical and electrical properties. The silane bridge provided more stability for binding with different concentrations of electroless plating silver ions. The characterization was investigated by using field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), X-ray diffraction patterns (XRD), energy-dispersion X-ray (EDX), metal microscope (MM) and electric resistance. The Ag coating on TEOS modified FG was more durable than that of unmodified FG in the ball milling test, as confirmed by the data of electric resistance and residue weight. The optimized conditions for producing the Ag coating FG were also investigated. The Ag-Si-FG-3-c product in this study has the lowest electrical resistance of 1.56 × 10³ Ω/cm² and good mechanical stability as exhibited in ball milling tests.     

Curvature measurement by using low-birefringence photonic crystal fiber based Sagnac loop

An optical fiber curvature sensor with low-birefringence photonic crystal fiber (PCF) based Sagnac loop is demonstrated experimentally. The low-birefringence PCF of about 40 cm long is inserted into Sagnac loop, and a section of it about 155 mm is used as the sensing element. The Sagnac output spectra under different curvatures are measured and analyzed. The results show that the wavelength shift of the transmission dip has a linear relationship with the curvature. The sensitivity of the curvature measurement of − 0.337 nm is achieved in the range of 0-9.92 m^− 1. And the temperature effect of the proposed sensor is also analyzed.     

Curvature sensor based on a pressure-induced birefringence single mode fiber loop mirror

An optical fiber curvature sensor based on a pressure-induced birefringence singlemode fiber loop mirror is presented. The birefringer SMF is made by applying a transverse force against a short length of singlemode fiber. The length of the sensing element for the curvature sensing is about 150 mm. The sensitivity of the curvature measurement experimentally is 0.0263 m⁻¹/pm. And the temperature effect of the proposed sensor is also analyzed. Comparing with the sensor of photonic crystal fiber, it is more convenient and simply.     

Theoretical analysis of surface plasmon resonance based fiber optic sensor using indium nitride

An extremely sensitive surface plasmon resonance based fiber optic sensor with indium nitride (InN) layer coated on the core of the optical fiber is theoretically analyzed. The proposed sensor exhibits high sensitivity in the near infrared region of spectrum. The optimized value of thickness of InN layer is found to be 70 nm. Possessing high sensitivity of 4493 nm/RIU, the 70 nm thick InN layer based fiber optic SPR sensor illustrates good sensing behavior.     

Intensity curvature sensor based on photonic crystal fiber with three coupled cores

An intensity curvature sensor using a Photonic Crystal Fiber (PCF) with three coupled cores is proposed. The three cores were aligned and there was an air hole between each two consecutive cores. The fiber had a low air filling fraction, which means that the cores remain coupled in the wavelength region studied. Due to this coupling, interference is obtained in the fiber output even if just a single core is illuminated. A configuration using reflection interrogation, which used a section fiber with 0.13 m as the sensing head, was characterized for curvature sensing. When the fiber is bended along the plane of the cores, one of the lateral cores will be stretched and the other compressed. This changes the coupling coefficient between the three cores, changing the output optical power intensity. The sensitivity of the sensing head was strongly dependent on the direction of bending, having its maximum when the bending direction was along the plane of the cores. A maximum curvature sensitivity of 2.0 dB/m⁻¹ was demonstrated between 0 m and 2.8 m.     

Fabry-Perot optical fiber tip sensor for high temperature measurement

We propose a novel Fabry-Perot optical fiber tip sensor for high temperature measurement. The sensor consists of a short section of a special all-silica photonic crystal fiber spliced at one end to a silica single-mode fiber. Because of its all-silica structure, the sensor allows linear and stable measurements of temperature up to 1200 °C with a high sensitivity. The sensor is easy and inexpensive to fabricate and could find wide applications in mechanics, aeronautics, and metallurgy.     

ZnO thin film on side polished optical fiber for gas sensing applications

In this work, thin ZnO films have been produced by pulsed laser deposition on side-polished fiber for optical gas sensor applications. The influence was investigated of the processing parameters, such as substrate temperature and oxygen pressure applied during deposition, on the sensitivity to ammonia of the sensing element. A shift of the spectral position of the resonance minimum to the longer wavelengths was observed at room temperature for the sample prepared at 150 °C substrate temperature and 20 Pa oxygen pressure. Spectral changes in the range 0.16-1.13 nm for NH₃ concentrations between 500 and 5000 ppm were also observed.     

Packaging and Characteristics of a Tapered Fiber Sensor for Refractive-Index Measurements

In this study, we demonstrate the design and fabrication of a tapered fiber sensor with a sensing application based on a new (high-sensitivity) package. We study the effect of various geometric parameters such as the uniform segment diameter, the uniform segment length, and the incident angle of the optical wave on the tapered fiber sensor sensitivity for evanescent sensing. Our study shows that high sensitivity of the tapered fiber can be realized by optimizing its parameters. In addition, we design a novel packaging of a tapered-fiber sensor, which can efficiently ensure a uniform stress and reduce the cross sensitivity caused by stress in liquid detection using a tapered fiber sensor. We report the experimental results obtained using this tapered fiber sensor for refractive-index measurements. As the refractive index of liquids varies from 1.417 to 1.423, the measurement results show that the refractive-index sensitivity of the tapered fiber sensor is as high as 4860 nm/RIU.     

Simple tunable multiwavelength Brillouin/Erbium fiber laser utilizing short-length photonic crystal fiber

We have demonstrated a simple ring cavity tunable multiwavelength Brillouin/Erbium fiber laser (MWBEFL), in which 70 m highly nonlinear photonic crystal fiber (HNL-PCF) is used as the Brillouin gain medium. The fiber laser utilizes recycling mechanism to enhance stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS). The configuration that consists of only 3 optical components is easy to be integrated and improves the practicality. At the maximum 1480 nm pump power of 110 mW and the Brillouin pump power of 3 dBm, 10 stable output channels with more than 10 dB optical signal to noise ratio (OSNR) and 0.078 nm channel spacing could achieve 10 nm tuning ranges.     

Temperature-independent optical fiber Fabry–Perot refractive-index sensor based on hollow-core photonic crystal fiber

A novel optical fiber refractive index (RI) sensor, which is based on an intrinsic Fabry–Perot interferometer (IFPI) formed by a section of hollow-core photonic crystal fiber (HCPCF) and standard single mode fibers (SMF), is proposed. The external refractive index is determined according to the maximum fringe contrast of the interference fringes in the reflective spectrum of the sensor. The RI response performance is demonstrated for the measurement of the different RI solutions. The experimental data agree well with the theoretical results. Also the RI resolution and repeatability of ∼1.5 × 10⁻⁵ and ±0.5% in the linear measurement region, are achieved. In addition, the temperature response is tested from 20 °C to 120 °C, which exhibits excellent thermal stability. Therefore, such an HCPCF-based F–P sensor provides a practical way to measure RI with non-temperature compensation.     

Design and performance of a plastic optical fiber leakage sensor

In this article design and operation of a plastic optical fiber (POF) sensor based on the unconventional light leakage from one fiber to another one causing intensity modulation are presented. The dominant loss mechanism was found to be the evanescent loss and based on this phenomenon the optical fiber sensor was designed. The penetration depth of evanescent wave as a function of different refractive index of cladding was calculated. Operation of this sensor was tested as a liquid level sensor for different liquids and the experimental results are compared. The dry (air interface layer) and wet output (liquid interface layer) signals for this probe were measured for a series of measurements and important factors concerning sensor operation are described. The precision of measured values, reproducibility of the results (1.35% error), and the stability of sensing operation as a function of time at different launching powers are also reported (0.85% error). The reported results for this design are promising and verify the successful operation of such a device as a liquid level probe and also as an on/off level switch.     

Fabrication and characterization of solid-core photonic crystal fiber with steering-wheel air-cladding for strong evanescent field overlap

We report the fabrication and characterization of a photonic crystal fiber with solid-core and steering-wheel pattern air-cladding (SW-PCF). Specifically, SW-PCF is fabricated using sol-gel casting technique. Attenuation spectrum shows the fiber losses of 0.14 dB/m, 0.087 dB/m, and 0.0 32 dB/m at wavelengths of 850 nm, 1000 nm, and 1500 nm, respectively, while the cut-off wavelength for single-mode operation is 1360 nm. Near-field imaging is used for the determination of mode-field diameter. The fiber presents the anomalous dispersion expending to short wavelength range with high non-linearity. Tapered SW-PCFs in the transverse geometries are numerically calculated, which suggests that the tapering of fiber holds a significant promise for the enhancement of power overlap in air holes. Properly designed and fabricated SW-PCF can thus be utilized as attractive platform for evanescent field sensing and detection.     

Surface plasmon resonance based fiber optic sensor utilizing indium oxide

A highly sensitive surface plasmon resonance (SPR) based fiber optic sensor with indium oxide (In₂O₃) layer coated on the core of the optical fiber is presented and theoretically analyzed. The sensitivity of the SPR based fiber optic sensor has been evaluated numerically. It is shown that the proposed SPR based fiber optic sensor with In₂O₃ layer possesses high sensitivity in the near infrared region of spectrum, which needs attention to many environmental and security applications and offers more accurate and highly reproducible measurements. In addition, the sensitivity of the SPR based fiber optic sensor decreases with the increase in the thickness of In₂O₃ layer. With sensitivity as high as 4600 nm/RIU, the 170 nm thick In₂O₃ layer based fiber optic SPR sensor demonstrates better performance.     

Optical fiber curvature sensor based on few mode fiber

An optical fiber curvature sensor based on interference between LP₀₁–LP₀₂ modes of a circularly symmetric few mode fiber (FMF) is presented. The device consists of two single-mode fiber and a 10-cm FMF. The two single-mode fiber is offset-spliced to each end of the FMF. When the optical fiber is kept straight and fixed, the interference pattern appears in the transmitted spectrum. As the fiber device is bent, the visibility of the interference fringes (at 1530 nm) decreases, reaching values close to 0.3. The dynamic range of the device can be tailored by the proper selection of the length of FMF. The relationship between the fringe visibility and the curvature is linear while the curvature is between 11 m⁻¹ and 16 m⁻¹. The result indicates that the compact sensor can be used in the measurement of large curvature, which is also important in structural health monitoring.     

Large negative dispersion in dual-concentric-core photonic crystal fiber with hybrid cladding structure based on complete leaky mode coupling

Considering the optical stability of solution, the sugar-solution is infused into the outer core ring of dual-concentric-core photonic crystal fiber (DCCPCF). The influences of structure parameters and solution concentration on the phase and loss matching are comprehensively analyzed. By choosing the appropriate outer core mode to completely couple with the inner core fundamental mode, the large negative dispersion PCF around 1.55 μm is designed, which has the dispersion value of − 39,500 ps/km/nm as well as bandwidth of 7.4 nm and effective mode area of 28.3 μm². The designed PCF with hybrid cladding structure can effectively compensate the positive dispersion of conventional single mode fiber, and suppress the system perturbation caused by a series of nonlinear effects. Considering the mode field mismatching between the DCCPCF and the tapered fiber, the calculated connection loss around 1.55 μm is below 3 dB. In addition, the equivalent propagation constants of two leaky modes are deduced from the coupled-mode theory, and the complete mode coupling case can be well predicted by comparing the real and imaginary parts of propagation constants.     

Effect of the Pd-Au thin film thickness uniformity on the performance of an optical fiber hydrogen sensor

Thin alloy film of Pd and Au, formed by simultaneous electron-beam and thermal evaporation techniques, respectively, is used in the design of an optical fiber hydrogen sensor. The sensor consists of a multimode fiber (MMF) in which a short section of single mode fiber (SMF), coated with the Pd-Au thin film, is inserted. Due to core diameter mismatch, the SMF cladding guides light, allowing the interaction between the sensing layer and the guided light. When the sensor is exposed to hydrogen, the Pd-Au layer refractive index diminishes and causes attenuation changes on the transmitted light. Several samples with different layer thickness uniformity were fabricated and tested in a very simple experimental set-up. We have observed that the sensor signal change is dependant on layer thickness uniformity, since the effective interaction length between the evanescent field and the sensing layer is increased. By contrast, such uniformity practically has no influence on the time response of the sensor. The resulting Pd-Au film can detect 4% hydrogen with a response time of 15 s.     

Wide band gain flattening Yb-doped fiber amplifier

The gain flattening of Yb³⁺-doped fiber amplifier of 1053 nm band has been realized in experiment using three cascade 1 × 2 fused tapered fiber coupler. The gain flattening band is about 20 nm with less than 1 dB power fluctuation around 1053 nm, which is agree with our numerical stimulation results very well.