Characteristics of Ultrasensitive Hexagonal-Cored Photonic Crystal Fiber for Hazardous Chemical Sensing

Abdul Mu’Iz Maidi,Shubi Kaijage,Norazanita Shamsuddin,Wei-Ru Wong,Feroza Begum

doi:10.3390/photonics9010038

Abstract

A highly sensitive non-complex cored photonic crystal fiber sensor for hazardous chemical sensing with water, ethanol, and benzene analytes has been proposed and is numerically analyzed using a full-vector finite element method. The proposed fiber consists of a hexagonal core hole and two cladding air hole rings, operating in the lower operating wavelength of 0.8 to 2.6 µm. It has been shown that the structure has high relative sensitivity of 94.47% for water, 96.32% for ethanol and 99.63% for benzene, and low confinement losses of 7.31 × 10−9 dB/m for water, 3.70 × 10−10 dB/m ethanol and 1.76 × 10−13 dB/m benzene. It also displays a high power fraction and almost flattened chromatic dispersion. The results demonstrate the applicability of the proposed fiber design for chemical sensing applications.

Highlights

In both industry and academic sectors, photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) are one of the most interested research areas in the field of fiber optics
PCF can be employed as a sensor by incorporating the core air holes with different test analytes; it is applicable in various sectors
The design of the PCF structure consists of four rings of cladding air holes in a hexagonal arrangement and an array of nine circular holes designated as the core

Summary

Introduction

In both industry and academic sectors, photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) are one of the most interested research areas in the field of fiber optics. In reference [10], a hexagonal grid PCF sensor, with four cladding air hole rings and a single core elliptical hole, for liquid detection with a water analyte, has been proposed It shows values of λ = 1.3 μm, low relative sensitivity of 41.37% and an order of 10−10 dB/m for confinement loss. The design of the PCF structure consists of four rings of cladding air holes in a hexagonal arrangement and an array of nine circular holes designated as the core Such a sensor design allowed a relative sensitivity of 44.45% and confinement loss of approximately 10−7 dB/m at a 1.3 μm operating wavelength. Ethanol and benzene are selected as the test analytes for the study

Design

Methodology

Findings

Conclusions