Design and operation of an evanescent optical fiber sensor

Design and operation of an optical fiber sensor based on the intensity modulation is reported in this article. Two distinct mechanisms are considered for the optical power loss and the sensor operation is explained in terms of these effects. The dominant loss mechanism is found to be the evanescent loss and based on this phenomenon the optical fiber sensor is designed. Performance of this sensor is tested as a liquid level sensor for water and the experimental results are reported. The dry and wet signals for this probe are measured for a series of measurements and important factors concerning the design and operation of sensor are described. The precision of measured values, reproducibility of the results, and the stability of sensing operation as a function of time are reported. Variation of the output reading of the sensor system for different launching power is also investigated. The output signal of an optical fiber sensor in general is nonlinear, but both the signal difference (dry minus wet) and diff/dry signal ratio for the reported sensor show linear dependence with the launching power at intensities below threshold. The reported results are promising and verify the successful operation of such a device as an on/off level switch and also as a liquid level sensor.     

内置调制层型光纤表面等离子体波共振传感器研究

研究了一种基于内置调制层结构的光纤表面等离子体波共振(SPR)传感器。通过在金膜与纤芯的内侧增覆具有不同厚度和属性的光学透明薄膜作为内调制层,构成了性能独特的光电复合薄膜,起到调节倏逝波矢量和金膜表面等离子体振荡波矢量的双重作用,进而控制共振效应,为调节灵敏度提供依据。采用时域有限差分方法对内置调制层结构光纤SPR共振激励模型属性进行数值仿真。在此基础上,研制了用于液体折射率测量的内置调制层型光纤SPR传感探针。实验结果表明,该传感器在1.335～1.392折射率范围内,随着待测液体折射率的增大,SPR共振光谱向长波方向偏移,且灵敏度达到2263.1nm/RIU,与基于纤芯-金膜-环境介质三层结构的常规光纤SPR传感器相比提高一倍,能够更好地满足环境折射率检测的需求。     

Micro double tapered optical fiber sensors based on the evanescent field-effect and surface modification

A double tapered optical fiber sensor based on evanescent field-effect and surface modification technology was introduced in this work. Whether the liquid and gas molecules had polarities or not, they all could be detected by the sensors modified in different silane coupling agents. At the same time, the sensing characters of the single mode optical fiber with three different tapering lengths were researched, and it came to a conclusion that the optical fiber sensor had stronger evanescent field effect and higher sensitivity when length of tapered fiber was 30 mm. The functionalized tapered fibers modified by 3-aminopropyltrimethoxy silane (APTES) or 3-methylpropenylacyloxy propyltrimethoxy silane (MPAPTES), were employed to detect the polar or nonpolar molecules which had corresponding features. Further, the results of quantitative tests showed that the fiber optic sensor was sensitive to the change of the ethanol concentration and the characteristic peaks of the absorption power spectra could reach to 3–5 dB.     

PSTM成像的FDTD数值模拟

尝试用时域有限差分法(FDTD)分析采用不同探针时光子扫描隧道显微镜(PSTM)成像的分辨率和效率。对四种探针,即不镀膜,带菱形金尖,镀金膜有孔径,镀金膜无孔径的探针,用二维p极化波,满足全反射条件,并用样品台上方平行于界面的隐失波作为等效入射波源,用探针距离尖顶一定高度截面的玻印亭矢量计算散射场强。数值模拟结果表明,带纳米尺度金尖的探针具有最好成像的分辨率和效率,镀膜无孔径和镀膜孔径探针次之,不镀膜探针最差。     

光纤SPR湿敏传感器及其共振光谱特性研究

提出并研制了基于光纤SPR传感探针的新型湿敏传感器。首先研究了光纤SPR传感探针对环境湿度变化的敏感特性,在此基础上提出在光纤SPR传感探针表面增覆不同厚度且具有水分子吸附功能的PVA薄膜来实现环境相对湿度的监测。研究结果表明,增覆双层PVA薄膜的光纤SPR传感探针在高湿区具有较好监测效果,其共振强度对应的相对湿度测量灵敏度达到1.59%/%RH,较光纤SPR探针呈现显著提高。而增覆单层PVA薄膜的光纤SPR传感探针在高湿区共振波长对应的相对湿度监测灵敏度达到2.411nm/%RH。此外所提出的新型光纤SPR湿敏探针在PVA薄膜失效后经过特殊工艺处理仍可重复镀膜使用。     

Design and operation of a fiber optic sensor for liquid level detection

Design and construction of an optical fiber sensor for liquid level detection are reported. This sensor operates based on light intensity modulation, and such modulation results from alteration of total internal reflection into partial reflection at the interface. The modulated intensity has been measured by using a pair of fibers, one transmitting source light, another acting as receiving fiber, and a glass prism providing the total and partial reflections. During the level measurements, when a liquid in a vessel touches the 45° faces of the 45-90-45° prism, the total internal reflection is disturbed, and the reflected light is modulated. The performance of this sensor is tested with different source lights including a light emitting diode (LED), a diode laser, and a He–Ne laser. Extinction ratio has been measured for different liquids, and compared. This ratio for water using LED source is about 0.03, for diode laser is 0.006 and for He–Ne laser is 0.003. Although this device was tested as a liquid level sensor, but the distinct results obtained for samples with different index of refractions demonstrate that the reported sensor can also be used as a liquid refractometer.     

Experimental Research on Focusing Property of Radially Polarized Beam Based on Solid Immersion Lens

Realization of a near-field optical virtual probe based on an evanescent Bessel beam is strongly dependent on a radially polarized beam; this makes it essential to study the focusing property of the beam. In this paper, two experimental setups based on a fiber device and a liquid crystal device, respectively, are built to generate a radially polarized beam. This beam and an annular radially polarized beam are focused by means of a high numerical aperture objective and a solid immersion lens (SIL). Near-field distribution of the focus spot, the evanescent Bessel field, is experimentally measured with a scanning near-field optical microscope (SNOM). The full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the central peak of the evanescent Bessel field is about 200 nm in the close vicinity of the bottom surface of SIL. This has potential for use as a near-field optical virtual probe.     

侧边抛磨的U型金溅射塑料光纤等离子体共振传感器

为了测量溶液折射率变化，对塑料光纤纤芯表面的纤芯-金层-液体的3层膜结构进行研究，制作了一种使用U型结构并结合侧边抛磨方法的表面等离子体共振传感器。将截取的一段塑料光纤弯曲成为U型，并在烘箱中通过较高温度使这段光纤的曲率固定，对弯曲部分的外表面进行抛光，暴露该位置塑料光纤芯层并在其上溅射金纳米薄膜层，将制备好的传感器浸入不同折射率的液体中，使用光谱分析仪观察光谱的移动。实验结果表明:当塑料光纤SPR传感器测量折射率变化范围在1.333~1.406的液体时，可以通过光谱观察到随着液体折射率的增大，等离子体共振吸收峰位置也不断地向波长增大的方向移动，并且二者之间存在线性关系，其灵敏度为7.5×10-4 RIU/nm。该传感器探头具有灵敏度高、小型化、易制备、低成本的特点。     

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.     

Application of a WGM optical fiber probe fabricated by 3D printing technology for glucose concentration measurement

This study proposes a method for manufacturing a whispering gallery mode (WGM) optical fiber probe used for measuring glucose. The principle of the WGM optical fiber probe consists of the bending interference that occurs between the core mode and cladding mode. 3D printing technology was used to create a mold for the optical fiber sensor so that the bent optical fiber sensor was fixed within the mold to ensure a stable bend radius. This method of fabrication allows for easier installation and replacement of the resulting optical fiber compared to WGM optical fiber sensors fabricated by traditional methods. The results of the concentration test showed that as the glucose aqueous solution concentration increased from 0 to 10%, the wavelength was red shifted and the transmission loss gradually increased. At a bend radius of 3.1 mm and an etching diameter of 46 μm, the wavelength sensitivity was 1.475 nm/% and the R-squared value was 0.983, indicating an extremely high sensitivity. These results confirm that the WGM optical fiber probe created in this study can be used to measure glucose concentrations with high sensitivity, and that it is relatively easy to manufacture, install, and replace. Therefore, the proposed WGM optical fiber probe exhibits good performance and is suitable for use as a glucose concentration sensor.     

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.     

On the fiber-optic chlorine sensor with enhanced sensitivity based on the study of evanescent field absorption spectroscopy

The paper deals with a fiber optic evanescent field absorption sensor that can be used for the detection of chlorine content in drinking water. The technique is based on the absorption of evanescent fields through the development of color owing to the reaction of an organic compound diethyl phenylene diamine with chlorine, which is already present in water. In the experiment, a U-shaped optical sensor probe is used because the sensitivity of the system improves due to the higher penetration depth achieved in this case. The improvement in sensitivity (in the case of U-shaped probed) is also shown experimentally.     

CdSe/ZnS量子点在倏逝波光纤pH传感中的应用

将新型量子点荧光传感技术与光纤倏逝波传感技术相结合,发展了一种基于量子点荧光效应并结合倏逝波传导进行溶液酸碱度检测的新型传感技术,具有灵敏度高、检测速度快、便于微环境检测、可实现远程探测、实时监测和原位分析等特点。详细介绍了用于倏逝波传感的锥柱组合型光纤荧光探头的制备方法,量子点在光纤探头表面的修饰流程,光谱与强度两种光纤pH传感平台的建立,并分别从响应范围、线性度、重复性和稳定性等方面对CdSe/ZnS量子点应用于光纤pH传感进行了评价。结果表明,在pH值为2~12的范围内,CdSe/ZnS量子点的荧光光谱信号的峰位在强酸和强碱的情况下都会产生红移,且红移量随pH值的变化呈线性关系,其量子点荧光强度信号随pH值的减小呈线性降低关系,通过在强酸和强碱下交替测试的实验表明其具有较好的重复性,利用荧光强度传感平台进行实时监测的实验表明其具有较好的稳定性。因此,将CdSe/ZnS量子点用于倏逝波光纤pH传感具有可行性,在生物化学、环境监测、医学临床、食品安全等领域的pH值测量方面有着广泛的应用前景。     

轴向隐失波激励的回音壁模式光纤激光器

采用轴向隐失波激励增益的方式,使激光增益区域局限在光纤回音壁模式的模场区域内,显著地降低了回音壁模式光纤激光辐射的抽运阈值,由此形成一种低阈值的回音壁模式光纤激光器.在微焦耳量级的低抽运能量条件下,用回音壁模式光纤激光器研究了激光染料的浓度效应.实验结果表明,随着激光染料浓度的增加,回音壁模式激光辐射的波长向长波方向移动,激光波长范围变宽.用回音壁模式染料激光的四能级模型得到激光上能级和所有能级上的分子数比值γ(λ)曲线后,很好地解释了实验结果.低抽运阈值的回音壁模式光纤激光器,为研究液体激光现象提供了极为便利的手段.     

A smart optical liquid level sensor based on Hg cladding optical waveguide

A smart optical liquid level sensor based on the theory of connected vessels is introduced. The Hg cladding optical waveguide (HCOW) is taken as its probe, and the change of liquid level is presented by the change of the HCOW length. Both the theoretical analysis and experiments show that when the waveguide diameter and the light wavelength are certain, the optical power loss decreased linearly with the increase of the HCOW length. By detecting the power loss of HCOW, optimizing the structure of probe and selecting the appropriate apparatus for detection, the real time detection of liquid level with high precision can be got. The experimental results show that the measurement accuracy is 5.2 mm within 10 m liquid level, and its theoretical precision can be up to 0.02%.     

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.     

光纤倏逝波型石英增强光声光谱技术

采用块状光学准直聚焦透镜组的传统石英增强光声光谱(QEPAS)技术存在体积难以缩减,结构稳定性不佳,无法适应空间狭小、振动复杂的特殊环境等缺点.基于此,将光纤倏逝波技术与QEPAS技术相结合,提出了一种新型微纳结构光纤QEPAS痕量气体检测技术.实验中,为了提高QEPAS系统信号幅值,优化了石英音叉与激光束的空间位置、激光波长调制深度,同时对比了两种不同共振频率的石英音叉,最终采用共振频率较低的30.720 kHz石英音叉作为声波探测元件,获得的检测极限为6.25×10~(-4)(体积分数),归一化噪声等效吸收系数为4.18×10~(-7)cm~(-1).W·Hz~(-1/2).     

基于连通器原理的小探头光纤液位传感器研究

介绍了以汞包层光波导为传感探头的光纤液位传感器的原理及信号处理,其工作原理是利用连通器将液位的变化转变为汞包层光波导包层长度的变化。理论分析和实验表明,当光波导直径和光波长一定时,光功率衰减随汞包层光波导长度增加作线性增加。通过对汞包层光波导引起光功率衰减的检测,探头结构的优化设计以及探测器件的选型,可以获得实时性很强的高精度液位测量。实验测得10m液位的最大测量误差为5．2mm,理论分析的相对测量精度可达0．02％。该液位传感器的研制对于油库等易燃、易爆环境中的液位测量具有重要意义。     

单端面透射模式长周期光栅的设计和测试

本文设计了一种单端面长周期光栅透射模式折射率传感器。首先,将2×2单模光纤耦合器输入端的一个光纤接头与光源相连接、输出端的两个光纤接头分别与光谱分析仪和长周期光栅的一个光纤接头相连接。然后,在包含长周期光栅的光纤另一个端面溅射反射银膜。最后,以一系列不同折射率的甘油水溶液为待测液体介质研究了直接透射模式与单端面镀银膜模式下长周期光栅的响应光谱的异同。实验结果表明:单端面镀银膜的长周期光栅的响应光谱仍然以透射谱的形式出现。对于同一种液体,单端面镀银膜的长周期光栅与直接透射模式的长周期光栅的响应光谱有着近乎相同的谐振波长值,但它们的光损耗存在一定的差异。在0~80%的甘油溶液中,直接透射模式下的光损耗从-12.92 dB变为-16.28 dB,再逐渐变到-13.22 dB;单端面镀银膜模式下的光损耗从-13.13 dB变为-13.74 dB,再逐渐变到-11.45dB。与直接透射模式相比,单端面镀银膜的长周期光栅的相对光损耗与甘油浓度的线性关系更加良好。本研究设计的长周期光栅测量系统采用单端面探头的方式检测环境介质,因而在测量中操作更加灵活方便,非常适合于远距离、恶劣环境或深层液体环境中的折射率测量。     

Fiber optic evanescent field absorption sensor: Effect of fiber parameters and geometry of the probe

A comparative experimental study of the fiber-optic evanescent field absorption sensor based on straight and U-shaped probes is presented. The effects of numerical aperture and the core radius of the fiber on the sensitivity of the sensor are experimentally investigated. Increase in the numerical aperture of the fiber increases the sensitivity of the sensor in the case of both the probes. The effect of core radius on the sensitivity depends on the bending radius of the probe. In the case of straight probe (i.e. infinite bending radius) the fiber with smaller core radius has high sensitivity while in the case of U-shaped probe with 0.17 cm bending radius, the fiber with larger core radius has high sensitivity. Thus, which fiber (with small or large core radius) has maximum sensitivity depends on the bending radius of the probe. For a given fiber, decrease in the bending radius increases the sensitivity of the U-shaped probe. An inverse power law relationship between the bending radius and the evanescent absorbance and hence the sensitivity is established.