Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensor Based on Waveguides Inscribed in No-Core Fiber

Abstract

We present a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) refractive index sensor based on femtosecond laser inscribed waveguides in a no-core fiber sandwiched between two sections of single mode fibers. The waveguides inscribed have a trapezoidal structure which consists of three sections: two slant waveguides to direct light out and back into the core of single mode fiber and a straight waveguide close to and in parallel with the surface of no-core fiber. A thin layer of Cr+Ag is coated on the surface of NCF to cover the straight waveguide region. The device is compact and has good mechanical robustness. The experimental results obtained show that the device has a refractive index sensitivity of ~3234 nm/RIU in the refractive index range of 1.34-1.37, and is expected to have practical applications in the fields of bio-medicine and environmental monitoring.