Joel Villatoro

Fast detection of hydrogen with nano fiber tapers coated with ultra thin palladium layers

We report a miniature hydrogen sensor that consists of a subwavelength diameter tapered optical fiber coated with an ultra thin palladium film. The optical properties of the palladium layer changes when the device is exposed to hydrogen. Consequently, the absorption of the evanescent waves also changes. The sensor was tested in a simple light transmission measurement setup that consisted of a 1550 nm laser diode and a photodetector. Our sensor is much smaller and faster than other optical hydrogen sensors reported so far. The sensor proposed here is suitable for detecting low concentrations of hydrogen at normal conditions.

Refractometry based on a photonic crystal fiber interferometer

We report a simple and compact modal interferometer for applications in refractometry. The device consists of a stub of large-mode-area photonic crystal fiber (PCF) spliced between standard single-mode fibers. In the splice regions the voids of the PCF are fully collapsed, thus allowing the coupling and recombination of PCF core and cladding modes. The device is highly stable over time, has low temperature sensitivity, and is suitable for measuring indices in the 1.330-1.440 range. The measure of the refractive index is carried out by monitoring the shift of the interference pattern.

Temperature-insensitive photonic crystal fiber interferometer for absolute strain sensing

The authors report a highly sensitive (∼2.8pm∕μe) wavelength-encoded strain sensor made from a piece of photonic crystal fiber (PCF) spliced to standard fibers. The authors intentionally collapse the PCF air holes over a short region to enlarge the propagating mode of the lead-in fiber which allows the coupling of only two modes in the PCF. The transmission spectrum of the interferometer is stable and sinusoidal over a broad wavelength range. The sensor exhibits linear response to strain over a large measurement range, its temperature sensitivity is very low, and for its interrogation a battery-operated light emitting diode and a miniature spectrometer are sufficient.

Simple all-microstructured-optical-fiber interferometer built via fusion splicing

We report a compact and stable all-microstructured-optical-fiber interferometer built with two fusion splices separated a few centimeters from each other. The air-holes of the fiber are intentionally collapsed in the vicinity of the splices. This broadens the propagating optical mode, allowing coupling of two modes in the section between the splices. A truly sinusoidal interference pattern was observed from 800 nm to 1600 nm with fringe visibility reaching 80%. The fringe spacing was inversely proportional to the distance between the splices. The potential of the device for sensing applications is demonstrated.

Low-cost optical fiber refractive-index sensor based on core diameter mismatch

A simple, compact, and low-cost optical fiber refractive-index (RI) sensor is reported. It consists of a multimode fiber in which a short section of standard single-mode fiber (SMF) is inserted. Owing to the core diameter mismatch, the cladding of the SMF guides light. This makes the device sensitive to the external RI. The maximum resolution of the sensor is about 7times10-5. The fabrication of the sensor only requires cleaving and fusion splicing; moreover, the device can operate at different wavelengths, which makes it attractive for diverse applications

Ultrastable in reflection photonic crystal fiber modal interferometer for accurate refractive index sensing

A compact in reflection modal interferometer consisting of a stub of large-mode area photonic crystal fiber (PCF) spliced to standard fiber is presented. In the splice, the voids of the PCF are fully collapsed allowing so coupling and recombining PCF core and cladding modes. The interferometer is highly stable over time and can be used for different applications. The measuring of refractive index in the 1.33–1.45 range with high sensitivity is demonstrated. Sensing applications based on refractive index changes are also feasible.

Fabrication and modeling of uniform-waist single-mode tapered optical fiber sensors

We report the fabrication and modeling of single-mode tapered optical fiber sensors. The fabrication technique consist of stretching a section of fiber with an oscillating flame torch. Such a process allows controllable fabrication of lossless tapered fibers with a uniform waist. The sensor transmittance is modeled with a simple ray optics approach. In the model, all the taper parameters are taken into account. Our results indicate that sensor sensitivity can be adjusted with the taper waist diameter. As an example a gold-coated tapered fiber is theoretically and experimentally analyzed.

Photonic crystal fiber interferometer for chemical vapor detection with high sensitivity.

We report an in-reflection photonic crystal fiber (PCF) interferometer which exhibits high sensitivity to different volatile organic compounds (VOCs), without the need of any permeable material. The interferometer is compact, robust, and consists of a stub of PCF spliced to standard optical fiber. In the splice the voids of the PCF are fully collapsed, thus allowing the excitation and recombination of two core modes. The device reflection spectrum exhibits sinusoidal interference pattern which shifts differently when the voids of the PCF are infiltrated with VOC molecules. The volume of voids responsible for the shift is less than 600 picoliters whereas the detectable levels are in the nanomole range.

Optical-fiber surface-plasmon resonance sensor with multiple resonance peaks

We report on an optical fiber surface plasmon resonance sensor that exhibits multiple resonance peaks. The sensor is based on a uniform-waist single-mode tapered fiber coated on one side with a thin metal layer. Owing to the asymmetry of the sensor structure, the different hybrid surface plasmon modes supported by the semicircular layer can be excited by the fundamental fiber mode. As a result, the sensor transmission spectrum exhibits several dips that depend on the taper waist diameter. The advantages of a plasmon resonance sensor with multiple dips are discussed.

Thermally stabilized PCF-based sensor for temperature measurements up to 1000°C

We report on the development of a stable Photonic Crystal Fiber (PCF) based two-mode interferometric sensor for ultra-high temperature measurements (up to 1000 degrees C). The device consists of a stub of PCF spliced to standard optical fiber. In the splice regions, the voids of the PCF are fully collapsed, thus allowing the excitation and recombination of two core modes. The device spectrum exhibits sinusoidal interference pattern which shifts with temperature. We show that, despite being compact and robust, the proposed sensor head needs a quite long burn in (thermal annealing) to achieve an adequate and stable functionality level. The burn in process eliminates the residual stress in the fiber structure, which had been accumulated during the drawing phase, and changes the glass fictive temperature.