Cellulose acetate polymer film modified microstructured polymer optical fiber towards a nitrite optical probe

A novel microstructured polymer optical fiber (MPOF) probe for nitrites (NO₂⁻) detection was made by forming rhodamine 6G (Rh 6G)-doped cellulose acetate (CA) on the side wall of array holes in a MPOF. It was found that the MPOF probe only have a response to nitrites in a certain concentration of sulfuric acid solution. The calibration graph of fluorescence intensity versus nitrites concentration was linear in the range of 2.0 × 10^− 4 g/ml-5.0 × 10^− 3 g/ml. The method possesses ease of chemical modification, low cost design, and potential for direct integration with existing instrumentation, and has been applied to the determination of nitrites in real samples with satisfactory results.     

Silver nanocrystals modified microstructured polymer optical fibres for chemical and optical sensing

In-fibre chemical and optical sensors based on silver nanocrystals modified microstructured polymer optical fibres (MPOFs) were demonstrated. The silver nanocrystals modified MPOFs were formed by direct chemical reduction of silver ammonia complex ions on the templates of array holes in the microstructure polymer optical fibres. The nanotube-like and nanoisland-like Ag-modified MPOFs could be obtained by adjusting the conditions of Ag-formation in the air holes of MPOFs. SEM images showed that the higher concentration of the reaction solution (silver ammonia 0.5 mol/L, glucose 0.25 mol/L), gave rise to a tubular silver layer in MPOF, while the lower concentration (silver ammonia 0.1 M, glucose 0.05 M) produced an island-like Ag nanocrystal modified MPOF. The tubular Ag-MPOF composite fibre was conductive and could be directly used as array electrodes in electrochemical analyses. It displayed high electrochemical activity on sensing nitrate or nitrite ions. The enhanced fluorescence of dye molecules was observed when the island-like Ag-modified MPOF was inserted into a fluorescent dye solution.     

Oxygen gas optrode based on microstructured polymer optical fiber segment

In this article, we first propose a novel type of oxygen gas optrode by forming fluorophore doped sensing film in the array microholes with the characteristics of microstructured optical fiber (MOF) segment. Comparing with the conventional O₂ detecting method, this slender shaped optrode shows potential in trace amount of O₂ sensing and online O₂ monitoring. Organical silicate gel or plastified cellulose acetate are chosen as sensing films and tris (4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenathroline) ruthenium(II) dichloride ([Ru(dpp)₃]Cl₂) or meso-tetraphenylporphyin (TPP) as quenching fluorophores. From the experimental results, we find [Ru(dpp)₃]²⁺-Gel-MOF optrode has favorable sensing characteristics, and the Stern-Volmer plots are linear in the full concentration range of O₂ (0-100% v/v). The ratio of I₀/I₁₀₀, where I₀ and I₁₀₀ respectively represents the fluorescence intensities of the optrode exposed to 100% N₂ and 100% O₂, as a sensitivity of the optrode is 10.8. Simultaneously, the optrode can make a quick response within 50 ms.     

Design of Topas microstructured fiber with ultra-flattened chromatic dispersion and high birefringence

A microstructured polymer optical fiber (mPOF) with both ultra-flattened near-zero chromatic dispersion and high birefringence based on Topas cyclic olefin copolymer is designed. Three rings of uniform elliptical air holes are arranged in triangular lattice in the cladding and an extra small defected hole is introduced in the fiber core. Guided modes, dispersion, birefringence and mode confinement properties of the designed mPOF are investigated by using the full-vector finite element method. Dispersion values between ± 0.5 ps/km/nm over the wavelength 1.1-1.7 μm and high birefringence of the order of 10⁻³ are obtained for the optimized fiber structure. Low confinement losses and small effective mode area are obtained at the same time. The relatively simple architecture of the proposed Topas mPOF can be fabricated by our extrusion-stretching techniques.     

Mode analysis of realistic optical waveguide structures and microstructured holey fibers by modal field evolution

In this article, we describe a useful technique for calculating modes of practical optical waveguides having two-dimensional arbitrary transverse refractive index profile. The method uses a finite difference platform for evaluating Helmholtz's equation in scalar and semivectorial forms through a field evolution algorithm. The method is straightforward, easy to handle and does not involve any complex analysis or matrix formulation. We tested the accuracy of our analysis approach by applying it on a large number of realistic waveguide problems having known results or results available in the literature. The formulation has facilitated us to study the modal properties, viz., field distribution, birefringence, dispersion and mode effective area, of a variety of practical two-dimensional structures namely, planar structure, coupler, semiconductor optical waveguides, optical fibers and arbitrary profile microstructured fibers which are uniquely important in photonics and guided-wave devices. The algorithm will therefore be very useful in designing and studying any arbitrary-structure waveguides, and to explore new geometry and properties.     

Coupling coefficient of two-core microstructured optical fiber

In this paper, coupled-mode theory is applied to a two-core microstructured optical fiber for the first time to calculate the coupling coefficients for different fiber structures by employing a simple effective index model approach. The dependence of the mode coupling properties upon the geometrical parameters of the two-core structures (air-hole arrangement, hole size, and pitch size) and wavelength are evaluated systematically. The effective index coupled-mode theory is compared with the finite-element method based super-mode theory in details and the results show good agreement. The coupling characteristics are proven to be insensitive to the longitudinal strain by considering the photoelastic effects.     

二氧化钛修饰的微结构聚合物光纤预制棒制备及其在光催化中应用的探索研究

首次用二氧化钛(TiO₂)纳米材料修饰的547孔微结构聚合物光纤(MPOF)二次预制棒作为阵列化微管式光催化反应器对亚甲基兰的光催化分解进行研究.将高光催化活性的P25型二氧化钛纳米粒子均匀分散在TiO₂溶胶中,对547孔微结构聚合物光纤孔洞内壁进行铺膜,得到了负载光催化剂的阵列化微管材料.该TiO₂MPOF有序复合的阵列化微管不仅对二氧化钛纳米粒子起到负载作用,还可以作为光波导介质(rolling-up薄膜波导,聚光、导光进入二氧化钛薄膜层)、污染物反应流体通道.以有机染料亚甲基兰为模拟污染物,研究了TiO₂负载量、亚甲基兰的初始浓度及溶液pH值等因素对光降解效果的影响.该反应器547个孔道的内表面用于负载光催化剂,不仅增加了固-液接触面积,也提高了光的吸收效率,从而提高了光催化效率.迄今为止,这种兼具导光、聚光、传质、负载功能于一体的光催化反应器还未见报道.     

新型光学聚合物——Topas环烯烃共聚物微结构光纤的设计及特性分析

以新型光学聚合物Topas 环烯烃共聚物（折射率为1.53）为基质,设计了四种微结构聚合物光纤.应用有限元方法对各种光纤在波长0.5—2.0 μm范围内的基模有效折射率、模场面积和数值孔径进行了计算.研究了结构参数对模场分布、单模特性和色散特性的影响.得出了具有极大/小模场面积、无限单模传输和平坦近零色散的光纤结构参数.与石英、聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯基质的微结构光纤相比,该光纤具有更大的数值孔径和较宽的平坦近零色散范围.为光纤的制备提供了理论指导. 关键词： 微结构聚合物光纤 有限元方法 传输特性 Topas 环烯烃共聚物     

Giga-bit optical receiver for plastic optical fibre

An optical receiver with high sensitivity and linearity specially designed for Giga-bit communications over small-bandwidth high-attenuation multimode plastic optical fiber is presented. An automatic gain control transimpedance amplifier and linear post amplifiers are used to maintain a good performance with multilevel modulation. Using multilevel signaling and large-diameter integrated photodiodes make the presented optical receiver suitable for large core plastic optical fiber. For a wavelength of 675 nm, a sensitivity of −26.3 dB m (BER = 10⁻⁹) at 500 Mb/s is presented by a binary signal. A data rate of 1 Gb/s and a sensitivity of −19.8 dB m (BER = 10⁻⁹) are achieved with four-level pulse amplitude modulation.     

Sensitivity analysis of scanning near-field optical microscope probe

In this paper, we study the dynamic modes of a scanning near-field optical microscope (SNOM) which uses an optical fiber probe; and the sensitivity of flexural and axial vibration modes for the probe were derived and the closed-form expressions were obtained. According to the analysis, as expected each mode has a different sensitivity and the first mode is the most sensitive mode of flexural and axial vibration for the SNOM probe. The sensitivities of both flexural and axial modes are greater for a material surface that is compliant with the cantilever probe. As the contact stiffness increases, the high-order vibration modes are more sensitive than the lower-order modes. Furthermore, the axial contact stiffness has a significant effect on the sensitivity of the SNOM probe, and this should be noted when designing new cantilever probes.     

Surface structure monitoring with plastic optical fiber

A sensor was designed using a plastic optical fiber to study the potential of detecting structural deformities and corrosion of metallic surfaces, in particular for applications in constricted areas such as pipes. The principle of the sensor is based on the collection of scattered light reflected by the surface imperfections. Several types of metallic materials in various surface profiles and stages of corrosion have been studied. The sensor was able to determine the position of ridges on the surface and corroded regions in all cases evaluated in the study. A sensitivity of 100 mV/mm was detectable for proximity and a vertical resolution of 1 mm has been measured.     

热可调液晶填充微结构聚合物光纤设计及特性分析

通过在微结构聚合物光纤(mPOF)的包层空气孔中填充液晶材料获得了高度热可调的带隙型mPOF. 带隙随温度的增加发生显著的蓝移, 带隙上边界的温度灵敏度可达-5.5 nm/℃. 采用全矢量有限元方法对模场特性以及基模有效模场面积的分析结果表明, 该填充液晶的mPOF在带隙的中心波长附近具有大的有效模场面积, 和相同结构未填充液晶的mPOF连接时具有较高的功率耦合效率. 研究结论为mPOF在温度传感领域的应用及各种可调光纤器件的制备提供了理论参考.     

A new positioning approach of fiber probe for near-field scanning optical microscope

A fiber probe-based positioning scan approach was established, whose precision can reach as high as 0.8 μm. And a set of modified microscope system was designed utilizing this approach, in which the scanning probe microscope (SPM) combined with an optical microscope was manipulated. The optical microscope and scanning probe can conveniently be switched through a switch panel. The observation period of samples can significantly be shortened. And more reliable images can be provided using this approach. Our design can effectively solve the inherent disadvantages of SPM technology, which makes SPM scan and image more reliably, conveniently, safely and rapidly.     

Proposal and realization for a broadband all-fiber non-uniformly spaced multi-channel optical filter

In this paper, we propose a broadband all-fiber non-uniformly spaced multi-channel optical filter, which is based on the utilization of paired multi-channel fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) located at two arms of an interferometer. Unlike the traditional optical comb filter, the channel spacing may be either linearly or nonlinearly chirped. Serving as an example, two identical linearly-chirped 51-channel FBGs have been successfully employed to demonstrate the proposed filter experimentally.     

Optical formation and manipulation of particle and cell patterns using a tapered optical fiber

A method for optical formation and controllable manipulation of particle and cell patterns using a tapered optical fiber is demonstrated. With a laser beam at 980‐nm wavelength launched into the fiber, different sized silica particles were formed into particle patterns (both one‐dimensional chains and two‐dimensional arrays) with different particle numbers by optical binding. The formed particle patterns can be controllably manipulated in three dimensions. Using yeast cells as an example, it was demonstrated that the method is applicable for the formation of biological cell patterns, without damage to the yeast cell viability. This method provides a new facile way for biophotonic and biological researches with particles and cells in a highly organized manner.     

Designing a coupler for the intersatellite optical communication system

Coupling a single-mode laser diode with 200 mW to a single-mode fiber (SMF) through an orthonormal aspherical cylindrical lens and a GRIN lens for the intersatellite optical communication system is proposed and demonstrated. We experimentally studied how the coupling efficiency changes with the SMF's position displacement and axial angle variation, and obtained 80 mW output power at the end of the SMF, which shows that the coupling units have satisfied the designed request.