I. Del Villar

Lossy Mode Resonance Generation With Indium-Tin-Oxide-Coated Optical Fibers for Sensing Applications

Surface plasmon resonances and lossy mode resonances (LMRs) can be generated with indium tin oxide (ITO) coated optical fibers. Both phenomena are analyzed and compared. LMRs present important advantages: they do not require a specific polarization of light, it is possible to generate multiple attenuation bands in the transmission spectrum, and the sensitivity of the device to external parameters can be tuned. The key parameter is the thickness of the ITO coating. The study is supported with both theoretical and experimental results. The main purposes are sensing and generation of multiple-wavelength filters.

Generation of lossy mode resonances by deposition of high-refractive-index coatings on uncladded multimode optical fibers

A comparative study of lossy mode resonances generated by depositing two different materials is presented. The two materials selected are indium tin oxide (ITO) and indium oxide. The two materials present different dielectric dispersion, which leads to the generation of single-peak lossy mode resonances with the ITO coated optical fibers and dual-peak lossy mode resonances with the In2O3 coated optical fibers. The obvious advantage of a dual-peak based measurement in the sensors field is enhanced by a sensitivity increase observed in sensors based on In2O3 if compared with those based on ITO. These characteristics are analyzed both theoretically and experimentally.

Design of pH Sensors in Long-Period Fiber Gratings Using Polymeric Nanocoatings

In this paper, two different pH sensors based on the deposition of nanometric scale polymeric films onto the surface of a long-period fiber grating (LPFG) have been studied and compared. An electrostatic self-assembled (ESA) method has been used to create sensitive films with an optimal overlay thickness. Two types of sensors have been designed: The first one is based on polyallylamine hydrochloride (PAH), polyacrylic acid (PAA), and the second one was done incorporating the pigment Prussian blue (PB) in the PAH/PAA matrix. A theoretical model of multilayer cylindrical waveguides based on coupled-mode theory has been used to predict the position of the attenuation bands as a function of the overlay thickness. Both sensors were tested and compared in terms of sensitivity and response time. A faster response was obtained with the introduction of PB particles in the polymeric matrix. Linear sensors in the pH range 4-7 were obtained, showing good repeatability and high sensitivity

ITO Coated Optical Fiber Refractometers Based on Resonances in the Infrared Region

In this work, it is presented the fabrication of optical fiber refractometers in the infrared region based on the deposition of indium tin oxide (ITO) coatings onto optical fibers core. ITO coatings act as the resonance supporting layer allowing the coupling of light at specific wavelengths from the waveguide to the ITO-coating/external medium region as a function of the refractive index of the external medium. The utilization of ITO coatings allows the fabrication of robust, highly reproducible and easy to implement resonance based refractometers. The results obtained showed an average sensitivity of 3125 nm/refractive index unit, which is comparable to the existing devices based either on resonance or other techniques. The fabricated devices showed fast response and no dependence with the length of the sensitive region.

ESA-based in-fiber nanocavity for hydrogen-peroxide detection

A fiber-optic sensor sensitive to hydrogen peroxide has been designed based on the electrostatic layer-by-layer self-assembly method. Prussian blue has been deposited in a polymeric structure formed by Poly(allylamine hydrochloride) and poly(acrylic acid). The concentration that can be detected range between 10/sup -6/-10/sup -3/ M, and recovery of the sensor after immersion into a reductive agent was demonstrated. The response of the sensor is independent of the pH for values that range between 4-7.4. Some rules for estimation of the refractive index of the material deposited and the thickness of the bilayers are also presented.

Two-Layer Nanocoatings in Long-Period Fiber Gratings for Improved Sensitivity of Humidity Sensors

A relative humidity sensor based on the deposition of electrostatic self-assembled alumina ( Al2O3) and poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate) on the cladding of a long-period fiber grating (LPFG) has been designed. The sensitive material has a lower refractive index than that of the fiber cladding, which limits the sensitivity of the LPFG response. In order to enhance its sensitivity, a previous high refractive index coating has been deposited. The overlay thickness is of the order of magnitude of the light wavelength used to interrogate the sensor. A theoretical model of multilayer cylindrical waveguides based on coupled-mode theory has been used to predict the phenomenon. Experimentally, an increased wavelength shift of the attenuation bands (75%) was obtained during the fabrication of the sensor, and, what is more important, the sensitivity was improved by a ratio of almost four. The proposed method improves the performance of LPFG-based sensors characterized by overlays of low refractive index.

Fiber-optic hydrogen peroxide nanosensor

A fiber-optic sensor sensitive to hydrogen peroxide has been designed based on the electrostatic layer-by-layer self-assembly method. Meldolas blue and a catalyst hemin have been deposited in a polymeric structure formed by PAH+ and PAA/sup -/. The concentrations that can be detected range at least between 10/sup -7/ and 10/sup -1/ M, and recovery of the sensor after introduction in a reductive agent has been proved successfully. Some rules for estimation of the refractive index of the material deposited and the thickness of bilayers are also given.

High sensitive refractometers based on lossy mode resonances (LMRs) supported by ITO coated D-shaped optical fibers.

Tin doped indium oxide (ITO) coatings fabricated onto D-shaped optical fibers are presented as the supporting medium for Lossy Mode Resonances (LMRs) generation. The characteristic geometry of ITO-coated D-shaped optical fibers enables to observe experimentally LMRs obtained with both TM and TE polarized light (LMR(TM) and LMR(TE)). This permits to obtain a maximum transmission decay of 36 dB with a LMR spectral width of 6.9 nm, improving that obtained in previous works, where the LMRs were a combination of an LMR(TM) and an LMR(TE). Surrounding medium refractive index (SMRI) sensitivity characterization of LMR(TM) has been performed obtaining a maximum sensitivity of 8742 nm/RIU in the range 1.365-1.38 refractive index units (RIU) which overcomes that of surface plasmon resonance-based optical fiber devices presented in recent works.

Nanofilms on hollow core fiber-based structures: an optical study

The optical characteristics of one multimode fiber (MMF)-hollow core fiber (HCF)-structure when a nanofilm is deposited on it has been theoretically and experimentally studied. The electrostatic self-assembly method has been used as the deposition technique, and the polymers chosen are polydiallyldimethylammonium and Poly R-478. Two different types of HCF have been used for the fabrication of the devices: 10/150 and 50/150 /spl mu/m inner and outer diameters, respectively. Depending on several design parameters, the transmitted optical-power characteristic of the device experiences important changes that could be interesting towards development of several practical optical devices. The length and thickness of the HCF segment, the refractive index of the material deposited, the angle of the light when it reach the HCF section, and the wavelength of the light source will be analyzed.

Long-period fiber gratings with overlay of variable refractive index

A theoretical analysis is presented of a long-period fiber grating (LPFG) with an overlay of variable refractive index. The highest sensitivity of the resonance wavelengths to variations in the refractive index of the overlay can be optimized. There are two key points for a good design: the selection of an overlay refractive index close to that of the cladding of the LPFG and the overlay thickness. The problem is analyzed with a numerical method based on coupled-mode theory.