Residual thickness enhanced core-removed D-shaped single-mode fiber and its application for VOC evaporation monitoring

Vector magnetic field sensor based on coreless D-shaped fiber and magnetic fluid

A vector magnetic field sensor based on a ferrofluid-encapsulated coreless D-shaped fiber is proposed and demonstrated. The core of the singlemode fiber (SMF) is completely removed by fiber polishing technology, and the remaining part transformed into a multimode interference (MMI) waveguide. The exposed side-polishing plane enable the evanescent field to interact with surrounding magnetic fluid (MF). Relying on the non-circularly symmetric geometry of the coreless D-shaped fiber and the MF refractive index modulation by the orientation and intensity of the applied magnetic field, vector magnetic field sensing is achieved. The magnetic field response characteristics of the coreless D-shaped fibers with different residual thicknesses (RTs) are investigated. The experimental results show that a reduced RT yields enhanced sensitivity, and the magnetic field intensity sensitivity reaches -0.231 nm/mT and -0.483 dB/mT at a RT of 42.7 µm. The developed coreless D-shaped fiber sensor exclusively utilizes SMF, thereby offering a cost-effective scheme for the fabrication of vector magnetic field sensors.

Cost-Effective Fiber Optic Solutions for Biosensing

In the last years, optical fiber sensors have proven to be a reliable and versatile biosensing tool. Optical fiber biosensors (OFBs) are analytical devices that use optical fibers as transducers, with the advantages of being easily coated and biofunctionalized, allowing the monitorization of all functionalization and detection in real-time, as well as being small in size and geometrically flexible, thus allowing device miniaturization and portability for point-of-care (POC) testing. Knowing the potential of such biosensing tools, this paper reviews the reported OFBs which are, at the moment, the most cost-effective. Different fiber configurations are highlighted, namely, end-face reflected, unclad, D- and U-shaped, tips, ball resonators, tapered, light-diffusing, and specialty fibers. Packaging techniques to enhance OFBs' application in the medical field, namely for implementing in subcutaneous, percutaneous, and endoscopic operations as well as in wearable structures, are presented and discussed. Interrogation approaches of OFBs using smartphones' hardware are a great way to obtain cost-effective sensing approaches. In this review paper, different architectures of such interrogation methods and their respective applications are presented. Finally, the application of OFBs in monitoring three crucial fields of human life and wellbeing are reported: detection of cancer biomarkers, detection of cardiovascular biomarkers, and environmental monitoring.

Optical Fiber Sensor for Monitoring the Evaporation of Ethanol-Water Mixtures

An inline optical fiber sensor is proposed to monitor in real time the evaporation process of ethanol-water binary mixtures. The sensor presents two interferometers, a cladding modal interferometer (CMI) and a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI). The CMI is used to acquire the variations in the external medium refractive index, presenting a maximum sensitivity of 387 nm/RIU, and to attain the variation in the sample concentration profile, while the MZI monitors temperature fluctuations. For comparison purposes, an image analysis is also conducted to obtain the droplet profile. The sensor proposed in this work is a promising alternative in applications where a rigorous measurement of volatile organic compound concentrations is required, and in the study of chemical and physical properties related to the evaporation process.

Extremely sensitive multi-order mode refractive index sensor using TiO2 nanograss film and weakly bounded waveguide modes

An extremely sensitive multi-order mode refractive index (RI) sensor was fabricated by coupling titanium dioxide nanograss film coated FTO conductive glass with Kretschmann prism. Both calculation and experimental studies were carried out. Theoretical analysis by employing resonant waveguide modes indicated that the maximum sensitivity could be achieved when the mode worked at the weakly-bounded condition. The experimental results showed that for p-polarized and s-polarized light, the sensor exhibited a maximum RI sensitivity of 2938.21 nm/RI unit (RIU) and 1484.39 nm/RIU in the 1^st order mode, respectively. Its maximum figure of merit was as high as 77.77. The proposed sensor is promising to be applied in environmental monitoring, immune analysis, nucleic acid test, etc.

Asia-Pacific Optical Sensors Conference: focus issue introduction

This feature issue of Optics Express contains 17 articles expanding on recent advances in optical sensors presented at the eighth Asia-Pacific Optical Sensors Conference (APOS 2019) held in Auckland, New Zealand, from November 19 to 22, 2019. These articles span sensing for real-time positioning, refractive indices, strain, gas, and temperature using a variety of methods including photoacoustic computed tomography, coherent optical frequency-modulated continuous-wave interferometry, enhanced Bragg gratings, and phase-sensitive optical frequency-domain reflectometry.