Porous wall hollow glass microsphere as an optical microresonator for chemical vapor detection

Abstract

Optical microresonators have been proven effective for developing sensitive chemical and biological sensors by monitoring the changes in refractive index or mass near the resonator surface. The rotationally symmetric structures support high quality (Q) whispering gallery modes (WGMs) that interact with the local environment through the evanescent field. The long photon lifetime of the high-Q resonator (thus the long light-material interaction path) is the key reason that a microresonator can achieve very high sensitivity in detection. In this paper, we present our recent research on using porous wall hollow glass microsphere (PW-HGM) as an optical microresonator for chemical vapor detection. The diameter of the PW-HGM ranges from 10μm to 100μm. The wall thickness is about 2μm and the pore size is about 20nm. The Q-factors and free spectrum ranges (FSR) of PW-HGMs were measured by coupling light into the PW-HGM using a single mode fiber taper. Various types of chemical vapors were used to characterize the PW-HGM resonator. The resonant wavelength shift was measured as a function of vapor concentration. Comparisons between a PW-HGM and a solid glass microsphere indicated that a PW-HGM can effectively adsorb vapor molecules into its nanosized pores, providing a direct and long light-material interaction path for significant sensitivity enhancement for chemical vapor detection.