High-performance Fabry-Perot fiber optic sensors from one-step laser side-polished platforms

Abstract

A facile one-step non-contact process was developed for preparing the substrates for Fabry-Perot-based side-polished optical fiber sensors. A carbon dioxide (CO2) laser cladding removal technique was used to control the profile of the polished fiber surface and to introduce two reflective cavities. The substrates were characterized for a range of cavity lengths and their thermal response was studied. This device added a degree of freedom to the design of optical fiber based Fabry-Perot sensors and its potential was demonstrated by coating the substrate with polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). The resulting sensors had a three-order of magnitude increase in sensitivity when compared to the substrate. The polished flat surface provided a route for the integration of novel materials for sensing applications, particularly those where polarization control was vital for light-matter interaction, for example, low dimensional materials such as graphene or MXene. The inherent simplicity, mechanical stability, and scalability of this approach are important steps for the realization of practical devices of this type.