A. Giorgini

Surface plasmon resonance optical cavity enhanced refractive index sensing

We report on a method for surface plasmon resonance (SPR) refractive index sensing based on direct time-domain measurements. An optical resonator is built around an SPR sensor, and its photon lifetime is measured as a function of loss induced by refractive index variations. The method does not rely on any spectroscopic analysis or direct intensity measurement. Time-domain measurements are practically immune to light intensity fluctuations and thus lead to high resolution. A proof of concept experiment is carried out in which a sensor response to liquid samples of different refractive indices is measured. A refractive index resolution of the current system, extrapolated from the reproducibility of cavity-decay time determinations over 133 s, is found to be about 10(-5) RIU. The possibility of long-term averaging suggests that measurements with a resolution better than 10(-7) RIU/√Hz are within reach.

Localized strain sensing with fiber Bragg-grating ring cavities

We report the theoretical description and the experimental demonstration of an optical resonator formed by inserting a Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) in a closed fiber loop. The spectral characteristics of such a resonator strongly depend on the reflectivity of the FBG. In the wavelength region where the FBG reflectivity R is negligible, the system behaves like a conventional ring resonator. On the other hand, when R is not vanishing, a split-mode structure can be observed, associated to the degeneracy removal of two counterpropagating resonant modes. The magnitude of the mode splitting can be used to sense small variations of the FBG physical parameters, such as length, temperature or group index. An example of strain sensing with this setup is reported, showing that the mode splitting is sensitive to a mechanical strain applied to the FBG, while it is almost insensitive to a strain applied to any other point of the resonator. This peculiar feature allows to perform cavity-enhanced, local strain measurements with a reduced sensitivity to environmental perturbations, which represents an important improvement in the framework of the fiber-optic sensors.

Split-mode fiber Bragg grating sensor for high-resolution static strain measurements.

We demonstrate a strain sensor with very high sensitivity in the static and low frequency regime based on a fiber ring cavity that includes a π phase-shifted fiber Bragg grating. The grating acts as a partial reflector that couples the two counter-propagating cavity modes, generating a splitting of the resonant frequencies. The presence of a sharp transition within the π phase-shifted fiber Bragg gratings spectral transmittance makes this frequency splitting extremely sensitive to length, temperature, and the refractive index of the fiber in the region where the grating is written. The splitting variations caused by small mechanical deformations of the grating are tracked in real time by interrogating a cavity resonance with a locked-carrier scanning-sideband technique. The measurable strain range and bandwidth are characterized, and a resolution of 320u2009u2009pϵ/Hz(1/2) at 0 Hz is experimentally demonstrated, the highest achieved to date with a fiber Bragg grating sensor.

Fiber Bragg grating laser sensor with direct radio-frequency readout.

A fiber Bragg grating (FBG)-coupled ring laser sensor is demonstrated. In the proposed configuration the interrogating source, the sensing head and the readout instrument are integrated in a single fiber-optic device. An FBG inserted within a bidirectional fiber ring couples the two counterpropagating modes of the cavity, generating a splitting of the resonant wavelengths proportional to the FBG reflectivity. When the cavity gain is brought beyond threshold, the two peaks of the split resonances simultaneously lase, leading to a beat note in the emission spectrum whose frequency tracks any small shift of the FBG reflectivity spectrum. Such a beat note can be simply monitored by a frequency counter, without the need for an optical spectrometer, allowing to significantly reduce size and costs of the sensor setup. The sensing performance compares well to the state-of-the-art thermo-mechanical fiber sensors.

Laser-frequency locking to a whispering-gallery-mode cavity by spatial interference of scattered light.

We present a simple and effective method for frequency locking a laser source to a free-space-coupled whispering-gallery-mode cavity. The scheme relies on the interference of spatial modes contained in the light scattered by the cavity, where low- and high-order modes are simultaneously excited. A dispersion-shaped signal proportional to the imaginary component of the resonant optical field is simply generated by spatial filtering of the scattered light. Locking of a diode laser to the equatorial modes of a liquid droplet resonator is demonstrated using this scheme, and its performance is compared to the Pound-Drever-Hall technique. This new approach makes laser-frequency locking straightforward and shows a number of advantages, including robustness, low cost, and no need for sophisticated optical and electronic components.

Enhanced spectral response of π-phase shifted fiber Bragg gratings in closed-loop configuration

The transmission spectrum of a ring resonator enclosing a π-phase shifted fiber Bragg grating (π-FBG) shows a spectral feature at the Bragg wavelength that is much sharper than resonance of the π-FBG alone, and that can be detected with a simple integrated cavity output technique. Hence, the resolution of any sensor based on the fitting of the π-FBG spectral profile can be largely improved by the proposed configuration at no additional fabrication costs and without altering the sensor robustness. A theoretical model shows that the resolution enhancement attainable in the proposed closed-loop geometry depends on the quality factor of the ring resonator. With a commercial grating in a medium-finesse ring, a spectral feature 12 times sharper than the π-FBG resonance is experimentally demonstrated. A larger enhancement is expected in a low-loss, polarization maintaining setup.

High-sensitivity ring-down evanescent-wave sensing in fiber resonators

We report on optical-fiber cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) in the liquid phase using a laser emitting at telecommunication wavelengths. A fiber-ring cavity, comprising a short evanescent-wave coupler for radiation-matter interaction, is used as a sensor while its resonance modes are frequency locked to the laser. Exploiting the intrinsic sensitivity and noise immunity of the CRDS technique, we show that liquid absorption can be detected down to a level that is nearly a factor of 20 above the shot noise limit. We provide a thorough comparison between the experimental results and various noise contributions and address different expressions that can be used to calculate the shot noise equivalent absorbance. As a proof of principle, polyamine detection in aqueous solutions is carried out demonstrating a minimum detectable absorbance of 1.8×10(-7)u2009u2009Hz(-1/2), which, to our knowledge, is the best sensitivity limit reported to date for evanescent-wave sensors.

Cavity-enhanced surface-plasmon resonance sensing: modeling and performance

We investigate the performance of a surface-plasmon-resonance refractive-index (RI) sensor based on an optical resonator. The resonator transforms RI changes of liquid samples, interacting with the surface plasmon excited by near-infrared light, into a variation of the intra-cavity optical loss. Cavity ring-down measurements are provided as a proof of concept of RI sensing on calibrated mixtures. A characterization of the overall sensor response and noise features as well as a discussion on possible improvements is carried out. A reproducibility analysis shows that a resolution of 10−7–10−8 RIU is within reach over observation times of 1–30 s. The ultimate resolution is set only by intrinsic noise features of the cavity-based method, pointing to a potential limit below 10−10 RIU/√Hz.

Investigating the resonance spectrum of optical frequency combs in fiber-optic cavities

We report a detailed theoretical and experimental study of fiber-optic cavities under broadband excitation by mode-locked laser combs. We calculate the effects of fiber dispersion on the cavity transmission. For any integer ratio between the comb repetition rate and cavity free spectral range, the theoretical resonant output spectrum exhibits a narrow group of resonant teeth, surrounded by minor, unevenly spaced resonances. Also, the central resonance can be rapidly and precisely tuned over the entire comb span by only acting on its repetition rate. Experimental observations are provided by a single-mode fiber ring and a telecom-wavelength comb laser. The resulting spectral pattern agrees very well with our theoretical prediction, allowing a thorough characterization of the cavity dispersion and opening new perspectives for comb spectroscopy in dielectric resonators.