Abstract
We report the optimization of the length of a D-shaped plastic optical fiber (POF) sensor for refractive index (RI) sensing from a numerical and experimental point of view. The sensing principle is based on total internal reflection (TIR). POFs with 1 mm in diameter were embedded in grooves, realized in planar supports with different lengths, and polished to remove the cladding and part of the core. All D-shaped POF sensors were tested using aqueous medium with different refractive indices (from 1.332 to 1.471) through intensity-based configuration. Results showed two different responses. Considering the refractive index (RI) range (1.33–1.39), the sensitivity and the resolution of the sensor were strongly dependent on the sensing region length. The highest sensitivity (resolution of 6.48 × 10−3 refractive index units, RIU) was obtained with 6 cm sensing length. In the RI range (1.41–1.47), the length of the sensing region was not a critical aspect to obtain the best resolution. These results enable the application of this optical platform for chemical and biochemical evanescent field sensing. The sensor production procedure is very simple, fast, and low-cost.
Highlights
In recent years, plastic optical fibers (POFs) have been well known for their successful use as optical fiber sensors (OFS) [1,2,3]
General considerations individual and inlosses this case, losses occurPOFs by the interactions of light rays the interface layerslight of be noted:rays, radiation in multimode are usually calculated by awith geometric approach; the fiber core and external medium through refraction and reflection; uniform mode distribution (UMD)
Numerical and experimental results have shown that the resolution of this optical platform is sufficiently low to enable further developments towards chemical and biochemical sensing, while allowing low volume sampling if equipped with an appropriate flow cell
Summary
Plastic optical fibers (POFs) have been well known for their successful use as optical fiber sensors (OFS) [1,2,3]. Cennamo et al have reported several biological and chemical sensors based on SPR (surface plasmon resonance) in a D-shaped POF platform [11,12,13] with 1 cm length sensing region and with typical optical resolution of around 6 × 10−4 RIU [14]. The novelty of this work is the study of the sensitivity to RI and resolution of D-shaped POF sensors with the length of the sensing region using a low-cost procedure and an intensity-based detection scheme. This work reports the development of low-cost intensity-based POF sensors with resolution suitable for chemical and biochemical applications [15,16].
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