A novel design of a photonic crystal sensor with improved sensitivity

Biosensors, based on photonic crystal (PC), are emergent subject. The use of PCs in this area brought solutions to both miniaturization and integration challenges that have been facing research groups for long time. We are only recently, by engineering such defects, able to propagate light in complex structures containing molecules of different sizes and shapes. We propose a novel structure containing defects with various sizes. The PC is formed by a dielectric cylinders with permittivity 8.9 (alumina Al₂O₃) and a radius r = 0.2a (a is the square lattice constant), arranged in a square lattice. We use the finite difference time domain to investigate the sensitivity of the proposed sensor to water. The defect based sensing element is introduced in two directions 〈0 1〉 and 〈1 0〉. These simulations show a better sensitivity to water than other analytes. It appears in the transmission curves where the peak shifts to high frequency when the refractive index is changed.     

Photonic crystal microcavity as a highly sensitive platform for RI detection

In this paper, we propose a new design principle of two-dimensional photonic crystal refractive index sensors with high transmission and sensitivity simultaneously. The proposed sensor is made of two waveguide couplers and one microcavity which is obtained by varying the radius of one air hole in the center of PC structure. The microcavity is separated from the input and output waveguides by many holes of the PC. It is shown that by injecting an analyte such as gas or a liquid into a sensing hole, and thus changing its refractive index, a shift in the resonant wavelength may occur. The transmission spectra, quality factor and sensitivity of the sensor have been analyzed numerically by the finite difference time domain (FDTD) method. The sensitivity value of the sensor has been found to be 668 nm/(RIU with minimum detection limit of 0.002 RIU), which proves the ability of the structure to produce biosensor PhC.     

Fiber-optic refractive-index sensors based on transmissive and reflective thin-core fiber modal interferometers

We present a new fiber-optic refractive-index sensor based on a fiber modal interferometer constituted by a thin-core optical fiber, whose cut-off wavelength is around three times shorter than normal single-mode fiber. In such a core diameter mismatching structure, the high-order cladding modes are efficiently excited and interfere with the core mode to form a high extinction-ratio filter (>30 dB). Both transmissive and reflective thin-core fiber modal interferometers are experimentally demonstrated, and show a high sensitivity to a small change of external refractive-index (>100 nm/R.I.U.), but a low sensitivity to the change of temperature (<0.015 nm/°C). Such a fiber device possesses an extremely simple structure, but excellent refractive-index sensing properties, and thus is an ideal candidate for fiber-optic biochemical sensing applications.     

Modeling a sensitive pressure and temperature sensor using rectangular PCF by 2-D FDTD technique

We propose a sensitive pressure and temperature sensor depends on hollow core rectangular photonic crystal fiber. The proposed modeling is carried out by implementing 2-D finite difference time domain (FDTD) method. The two parameters like pressure and temperature plays a vital role in reservoir engineering to increase the production rates of oil well and our sensor technique is depend on the transmission peak wavelength shift which is caused by temperature/pressure change, and geometrical parameter of the structure of rectangular PCF. Here we have done simulation for various work using 2-D FDTD method application to sensing. We have shown the proposed design which provides the sensitivity with linear dependence of the resonance wavelength over refractive index of PCF holes at a operating wavelength of 1.55 μm.     

High sensitivity and ultra-compact optical biosensor for detection of UREA concentration

In this paper, we suggest two-dimensional photonic crystal based biosensors for measurement of urea concentration in urine by means of refractive index detecting. In case of variation of urea concentration in urine, both the output peak intensity and the resonant peak center wavelength will shift. Two different structure dimensions are used to analyze the sensing characteristics of urine. The first sensor consists of a novel square ring joined to a simple waveguide with rods in air configuration. The second sensor is schemed by use of two-dimensional photonic crystals based on air hole in slab with elliptical resonant cavity in the middle of a photonic crystal waveguide. To realize sensing in both cases, we fill air area by urine sample. A high sensitivity is observed in small structures. In addition, we demonstrated a high quality factor, which is superior to those reported in recently published work discussing urine components based on photonic crystal, with small size sensors and fast response times.     

Design of a highly sensitive photonic crystal waveguide platform for refractive index based biosensing

In this paper, a photonic crystal waveguide platform on silicon-on-insulator substrate is proposed in order to realize a highly sensitive refractive index based biosensor. Following the design, the analysis of the sensor structure are made by using the three dimensional Finite Difference Time Domain method. The principle of sensing is based on the change in refractive index, which in turn changes the output spectrum of the waveguide. Results show that the sensitivity of the sensor depends mainly on the geometrical properties of the defect region of the photonic crystal structure. The phenomenon is verified for various samples having refractive index ranging from 1 (air) to 1.57 (Bovine serum albumin). Further, the structure is compared with few other conventional photonic crystal waveguide designs to analyze the sensing performance. The estimated value of sensitivity of the sensor is found to be 260 nm/RIU with a detection limit of 0.001 RIU. This high sensitivity can enhance the performance of low-concentration analytes detection.     

导模共振效应光子晶体滤波器光谱检测稳定性的研究

由于光子晶体滤波器带宽窄和高灵敏度的特点,检测抗体含量极限可以达到ng·mL-1。可以应用于生物传感器监测生物大分子内部反应过程。一维光子晶体滤波器作为生物传感器换能元件将生物信息转化为可检测的光电信号信息,主要反应在光谱仪测得共振波峰所在波长的变化。精确测试时,检测传感系统的稳定性是首要考虑的关键因素。稳定性决定实验数据的有效性。该工作对所制备的基于导模共振效应的一维光子晶体滤波器结构进行形貌和光谱测试,介绍了实验室所搭建的实时检测传感系统。由于系统集成度、 耦合损耗等因素的影响,光谱信息出现一定的噪声信号。因此,重点提出利用Lab VIEW编程实时监控光子晶体滤波器共振波峰值随时间的变化,由光谱变化情况来反应本套检测系统的稳定性和测试数据的有效性。同时这种实时监控程序也可用来监控其他基于导模共振生物传感系统的稳定度。该检测系统由于震动,光源抖动等问题产生的共振峰值漂移为0.25 nm,通过与模拟计算结果比较可以判定系统稳定性可以达到试剂检测的要求。     

带多孔硅表面缺陷腔的半无限光子晶体Tamm态及其折射率传感机理

结合表面缺陷半无限光子晶体Tamm态与多孔硅光学传感机理,在光子晶体表面缺陷腔中引入多孔硅,并利用其高效的承载机制,提出基于多孔硅表面缺陷光子晶体Tamm态的折射率传感结构.在半无限光子晶体中缺陷腔与原来的周期性分层介质结构的界面上存在Tamm态,通过入射角度调制使其在缺陷腔中实现多次全反射,并在缺陷腔中加入吸收介质,使谐振波长在缺陷腔中完成衰荡,从而在反射谱中得到缺陷峰;调整光子晶体参数,使缺陷峰的半高全宽得到优化,提高其品质因数(Q值);在此基础上,根据Goos-H?nchen相位移与谐振波长的关系,建立由待测样本折射率改变所导致的多孔硅表面吸附层有效折射率变化与缺陷峰值波长漂移之间的关系模型,并分析其折射率传感特性.结果表明,此生物传感结构Q值为1429,灵敏度为546.67 nm/RIU,证明了该传感结构的有效性,可为高Q值和高灵敏度折射率传感器的设计提供一定的理论参考.     

An Integrative Biosensor Based on Contra-Directional Coupling Two-dimensional Photonic Crystal Waveguides

We propose an integrative biochemical sensor utilizing the dip in the transmission spectrum of a normal singleline defect photonic crystal （PC） waveguide, which has a eontra-directional coupling with another PC waveguide. When the air holes in the PC slab are filled with a liquid analyte with different refractive indices, the dip has a wavelength shift. By detecting the output power variation at a certain fixed wavelength, a sensitivity of 1.2 × 10^-4 is feasible. This structure is easy for integration due to its plane waveguide structure and omissible pump source. In addition, high signal to noise ratio can be expected because signal transmits via a normal single-line defect PC waveguide instead of the PC hole area or analyte.     

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.     

Theoretical study on biosensing characteristics of heterostructure photonic crystal ring resonator

In this paper, we investigate the biosensing characteristics of two-dimensional heterostructure photonic crystals (PCs) ring resonator theoretically by using the finite difference time domain (FDTD). The coupling air holes and inner air holes of ring resonator are treated as coupled sensing area and internal sensing area. When both of the sensing areas are filled with the same biological samples solution, the resonant peak wavelength shift of the ring resonance is different. Both the resonant peak center wavelength and peak intensity are related to the positions of sensing holes. With the same refractive index change of the biological sample, the sensing sensitivity of the coupling sensing area is much higher than that of the inner sensing area. Meanwhile, through the analysis of resonant peak wavelength shift, the refractive index change of the sample filled in the sensor area can be derived, which can be monitored real-time.     

基于表面等离子体共振的新型超宽带微结构光纤传感器研究

基于表面等离子体共振的微结构光纤传感器具有高灵敏、免标记和实时监控等优点.如今,由于此类传感器广泛应用于食品安全控制、环境检测、生物分子分析物检测等诸多领域而受到大量研究.然而,目前所报道的绝大多数此类传感器只能应用于可见光或近中红外传感.因此,对可应用于中红外传感的表面等离子体共振微结构光纤传感器的研究是一项极具挑战性的工作.基于此,本文设计了一种可以工作在近红外和中红外区域的新型高灵敏表面等离子体共振微结构光纤传感器.传感器采用双芯单样品通道结构,该结构不仅可以消除相邻样品通道间的相互干扰和提高传感器的信噪比,还可以在超宽带波长范围内实现高灵敏检测.采用全矢量有限元法对其传感特性进行了系统的研究,研究结果表明:当待测样品折射率分布在1.423—1.513范围内时,传感器不仅可以在1.548—2.796μm的超宽带波长范围内进行工作,而且其平均灵敏度高达13964 nm/RIU.此外,传感器的最高波长灵敏度和折射率分辨率分别为17900 nm/RIU,5.59×10^–7 RIU.     

基于太赫兹超材料的微流体折射率传感器

太赫兹生物医学是目前光谱研究领域的热点,其主要难点在于如何有效避免水分的干扰,进行液相环境下样本的灵敏分析与检测。超材料太赫兹传感器由于具有高灵敏、快速检测、痕量分析等优势,而成为太赫兹生物医学传感领域的重要研究方法。设计加工了一种基于单开口谐振环超材料的太赫兹液相传感芯片,为了有效克服水对太赫兹波的强烈吸收,利用微纳加工技术刻蚀深度为50 μm的流体通道。传感芯片整合了超材料基底与PDMS流道,在THz频段有两个位于0.771和2.129 THz的谐振峰。以水、无水乙醇作为常见化学溶剂进行传感实验,相对于空白传感器本身的THz时域谱而言,液体的加入导致时域峰的相位延迟和幅度减小。同时,由于水的折射率大于乙醇,THz透射频谱结果显示为水的频移改变量大于乙醇,且峰2大于等于峰1。上述结果表明,构建的超材料液相传感芯片是一个灵敏的折射率传感器,也证明了该传感器在测量液态样品方面的可行性。此外,利用该芯片研究了不同浓度的PBS溶液,发现水溶液中加入离子会导致谐振频率红移（以水为参考）,随着离子浓度增加,谐振频率改变量依次增加,10X PBS红移量最大,峰1为22.9 GHz,峰2为30.5 GHz。比较两个谐振峰的传感性能,峰2的传感能力更好,但是峰1对低浓度的离子溶液更加敏感。因此,构建的微流体传感器及检测体系作为一个灵敏的折射率传感器,可开发一个灵敏的无标记THz传感平台,为太赫兹生物医学研究提供新思路。     

Temperature-insensitive strain measurement using a birefringent interferometer based on a polarization-maintaining photonic crystal fiber

We propose a novel and simple scheme for a temperature-insensitive strain measurement by using a birefringent interferometer configured by a polarization-maintaining photonic crystal fiber (PM-PCF). The wavelength-dependent periodic transmission in a birefringent interferometer can be achieved by using a PM-PCF between two linear polarizers. Since the PM-PCF is composed of a single material, such as silica, the peak wavelength shift with temperature variation can be negligible because of the small amount of the birefringence change of the PM-PCF with temperature change. The measured temperature sensitivity is −0.3 pm/°C. However, the peak wavelength can be changed by strain because the peak wavelength shift is directly proportion to strain change. The strain sensitivity is measured to be 1.3 pm/με in a strain range from 0 to 1600 με. The measurement resolution of the strain is estimated to be 2.1 με. The proposed scheme has advantages of simple structure and low loss without a Sagnac loop, temperature insensitivity, ease installation, and short length of a sensing probe compared with a conventional PMF-based Sagnac loop interferometer.     

Photonic crystal fiber tip interferometer for refractive index sensing

In this paper we present an interferometer based on photonic crystal fiber (PCF) tip ended with a solid silica-sphere for refractive index sensing. The sensor is fabricated by splicing one end of the holey PCF to a single mode fiber (SMF) and applying arc at the other end to form a solid sphere. The sensor has been experimentally tested for refractive index and temperature sensing by monitoring its wavelength shift. Measurement results show that the sensor has the resolution of the order of 8.7×10(-4) over the refractive index range of 1.33-1.40, and temperature sensitivity of the order of 10 pm/°C in the range of 20-100 °C.     

Numerical study of a highly sensitive surface plasmon resonance sensor based on circular-lattice holey fiber

A new design of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor employing circular-lattice holey fiber to achieve high-sensitivity detection is proposed. The sensing performance of the proposed sensor is numerically investigated and the results indicate that our proposed SPR sensor can be applied to the near-mid infrared detection. Moreover, the maximum wavelength sensitivity of our proposed sensor can reach as high as 1.76×10⁴ nm/refractive index unit (RIU) and the maximum wavelength interrogation resolution can be up to 5.68×10^-6 RIU when the refractive index (RI) of analyte lies in (1.31, 1.36). Thanks to its excellent sensing performance, our proposed SPR sensor will have great potential applications for biological analytes detection, food safety control, bio-molecules detection and so on.     

基于表面等离子体共振和定向耦合的D形光子晶体光纤折射率和温度传感器

利用光子晶体光纤结构的灵活性和性能的优越性, 设计了一种基于D形光子晶体光纤的折射率和温度传感器. 在D形光子晶体光纤表面抛磨并镀上金纳米薄膜, 作为表面等离子体共振传感通道用来测量液体折射率; 在包层的一个空气孔中填充温敏液体甲苯, 作为定向耦合通道实现对温度的测量. 进一步的数值计算发现, 基于定向耦合效应的温度传感和基于表面等离子体共振的折射率传感相互独立, D形光子晶体光纤同时进行折射率和温度传感检测. 在各向异性的完美匹配层边界条件下利用全矢量有限元法对该传感器特性进行了数值研究, 发现D形光子晶体光纤的空气孔直径决定了定向耦合吸收峰的中心波长和温度传感的灵敏度, 金薄膜的厚度和D形结构的抛磨深度仅影响表面等离子体共振峰的相对强度. 结果表明: 该传感器在-10–80 ℃的温度范围内具有11.6 nm/℃的温度灵敏度, 在1.34–1.44折射率范围内折射率灵敏度最高可达26000 nm/RIU.     

基于侧漏型光子晶体光纤高灵敏度宽线性范围弯曲传感器的研究

基于所研制的侧漏型光子晶体光纤, 提出并研制出一种Sagnac干涉仪型高灵敏度宽线性测量范围的弯曲传感器. 实验研究结果表明, 当侧漏型光子晶体光纤中的线性缺陷与弯曲方向一致时, 采用群双折射和波谷波长偏移量测量弯曲曲率均可获得高的弯曲灵敏度, 但线性测量范围小, 且不能进行小弯曲曲率的测量. 当线性缺陷与弯曲方向垂直时, 以波谷波长偏移量进行弯曲曲率检测, 可获得10.798 nm/m^-1高灵敏度的同时且可实现0–5.03 m^-1的宽线性测量范围, 结合测量矩阵的引入可实现温度和弯曲曲率的同时测量, 进而剔除环境温度变化对弯曲曲率检测的干扰, 实现了高灵敏度宽线性范围的弯曲传感; 而以群双折射进行弯曲曲率检测, 虽然检测灵敏度较低, 但可实现对环境温度不敏感的弯曲传感. 关键词： 弯曲传感器 侧漏型光子晶体光纤 高灵敏度 宽线性范围     

Reflectance-based two-dimensional TiO₂ photonic crystal liquid sensors

We propose and experimentally demonstrate a reflectance-based photonic crystal (PC) liquid sensor. The PC is made of two-dimensional TiO₂ nanopillar arrays. Such a reflectance-based structure with large functional area not only simplifies the optical guiding but also enhances the sensor signal. A linear shift of reflectance peaks is found for liquids with refractive indices varying from 1.333 to 1.390 at wavelength near 1.5?μm. Excellent agreement between measured values and the generated reflectance model at a fixed wavelength is obtained, indicating the high potential of these PC-based liquid sensors for biological and environmental applications.     

晶格旋转光子晶体Mach-Zehnder干涉结构传感特性

基于光子晶体的自准直效应,利用在同一背景折射率下不同介质柱的等效折射率的不同,提出了一种基于晶格旋转的二维光子晶体Mach-Zehnder干涉仪折射率传感器。分别应用线缺陷和空气平板波导构成其分束镜和全反镜,并在其中一个干涉臂上设置传感区域。通过改变填充到传感区域溶液的浓度,改变介质柱的折射率,进而影响透射谱的中心波长,从而建立起溶液浓度和透射波长之间的数学关系;并进行了酒精溶液浓度测量的数值模拟,结果表明,该传感器在1.33~1.37折射率变化范围内灵敏度为250nm/RIU。