Fused Silica Fibers Research Articles

A New Aluminium Hydroxide Coating on Fused Silica Fiber for the Determination of 1,4-Dioxane in Surfactants and Detergents Using HS-SPME-GC

This paper presents a simple and convenient analytical method for determination of 1,4-dioxane in surfactants and detergents by using a novel SPME fiber. For the preparation of the fiber, the surface of a fused silica capillary tubing was modified by means of aluminium tri-tert-butoxide in a straightforward grafting process. The surface of our proposed fiber provides a Lewis acid–base interaction with analyte functional groups. The main factors affecting the extraction were optimized by using a central composite design method, which leads to the following optimum conditions: extraction temperature of 34 °C, extraction time of 4 min, equilibrium time of 13 min, and salt content of 25% (w/v). The optimum conditions showed a linear range from 0.005 to 60 μg g−1. LOD and LOQ of the proposed method were estimated to be 0.0015 and 0.005 μg g−1, respectively. This method was also applied for the analysis of some real samples including ethoxylated fatty alcohol, sodium lauryl ether sulfate, dish-washing agents, and shampoos by using the standard addition method.

New Optical Fiber Micro-Bend Pressure Sensors Based on Fiber-Loop Ringdown

A new optical fiber micro-bend pressure sensor using fiber loop ringdown is studied in this paper. It consists of a pulse microchip laser, two 2×1optical fiber couplers, a photodetector, and a section of fused-silica single-mode fiber, which makes the sensing element with a micro-bend structure. Pressure can be measured by measuring the ringdown time of fiber loop due to the monotone relation of fiber transmission loss and the micro-bend of the single mode fiber. A test setup is constructured, then the ringdown time corresponding to different pressure, which is simulated by putting different heavy masses on the micro-bend panel. The experimental results show that the pressure has good linear relation with the reciprocal of the ringdown time, which is well in agreement with the theoretical results. This new fiber sensor is free from the fluctuation of the light power, which badly affects the performances of traditional fiber micro-bend sensors. Furthermore, it has the advantages of simple structure, fast response, highly sensitivity, convenience for multi-parameter sensing, etc., which makes it have wide applications.

First results from the ‘Violin-Mode’ tests on an advanced LIGO suspension at MIT

This paper describes the first results from ‘Violin-Mode’ measurements made on the four suspension fibres of a fully suspended 40 kg test mass. These measurements were made at the LIGO lab, Gravitational Wave Observatory test facility, at MIT. Here, an aluminium-alloy (dummy) test mass, simulating an advanced LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave Observatory) test mass/mirror, had been suspended in air from a test suspension by four fused-silica suspension fibres, each measuring 400 µm in diameter × 600 mm long. Violin-Mode measurements were made on these highly tensioned fibres by retrofitting a prototype system of four novel shadow sensors to the test suspension, one per fibre, these sensors having, collectively, a displacement sensitivity of (6.9 ± 1.3) × 10−11 m (rms) Hz−1/2, at 500 Hz, over a measuring span of ±0.1 mm. Violin-Mode fundamental resonances were detected in all four fibres: with frequencies ∼ 485 Hz when the test mass was supported lightly from below, and at ∼500 Hz when it was fully suspended. In the latter case the Violin-Mode detection took place whilst the test mass, together with its suspension fibres, was undergoing relatively large-amplitude ‘pendulum-mode’ motion, at ∼0.6 Hz. This motion was measured to have a peak–peak amplitude at one of the suspension fibres of up to ∼140 µm (35 µm, rms)—the shadow sensors each having subsidiary outputs for monitoring such low-frequency, large amplitude, motion. Under fully suspended conditions, a calibrated Violin-Mode ‘free-oscillation’ amplitude of 430 ± 20 picometres, rms, was measured at 500.875 Hz, in the same suspension fibre which was found to be undergoing, simultaneously, the ∼140 µm peak–peak motion. Over the bandwidth monitored (dc to 3.2 kHz), Violin-Mode harmonics up to the sixth were recorded in an evoked response. It was concluded that the prototype system had demonstrated amply its practical viability as a detector of Violin-Mode resonances in the test-mass suspension fibres of gravitational wave interferometers, such as those of advanced LIGO.

Peculiarities of thermo-optic coefficient under different temperature regimes in optical fibers containing fiber Bragg gratings

Direct experimental measurements of the thermo-optic for fixed temperature intervals (20–200 °C, 200–500 °C, 500–660 °C, 660–780 °C) in fused silica fiber containing fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) were conducted. The diffraction efficiency of a FBG fluctuated with temperature between 2.01 × 10 − 4 and 0.17 × 10 − 4 while the temperature shift of the Bragg's peak was monitored between 1300 and 1311 nm with sub-Angstrom precision. Numerical simulations were focused on FBG's diffraction efficiency calculations accounting for the temperature drift of the gratings, and found to be in excellent agreement with obtained experimental data. It was found that the first-order thermo-optic coefficient changes between 1.29 and 1.85 × 10 − 5 K − 1 for the linear fit and at T = 0 °C its value was found to be close to 2.37 × 10 − 5 K − 1 for the polynomial fit of experimental data. The average thermo-optic coefficient undergoes a minimum in the vicinity of 440 °C. Additional observation indicates a negative sign of the second-order thermo-optic coefficient. The value of thermal expansion coefficient was much less (0.5 × 10 − 6 K − 1 ) than that for the average thermo-optic coefficient. Based on the energy dispersive spectroscopy it was determined that thermal erasing of the FBGs at a temperature around 780 °C corresponds to germanium monoxide diffusion out of core in silica-based fibers.

Dual Fiber-In-capillary Annular Column with Ternary Stationary Phase for Gas Chromatographic Separation

In the present work a novel strategy for improving and/or tuning the selectivity of gas chromatographic (GC) separation by combining three different stationary phases (SPs) without premixing was introduced. A fused silica fiber coated with polydimethylsiloxane (SE30) and another coated with cyanopropylphenylmethylpolysiloxane (OV1701) were serially inserted into an 8-m polyethylene glycol 20 M (PEG20M) capillary column to form a GC annular column with ternary SP, abbreviating as SE30-OV1701-CF/PEG20M-CC. The separation capability of this ternary SP annular column was compared with a SE30-coated fiber-in-PEG20M-coated capillary annular column and a PEG20M-coated open tubular column by a test mixture of 19 organic compounds. Among these three columns, SE30-OV1701-CF/PEG20M-CC produced the best separation when the SE30-coated fiber and OV1701-coated fiber was 3 and 5 m, respectively. Selectivity can be easily tuned by changing the length of the SP-coated fibers in the ternary SP annular column. The proposed ternary SP annular column shows additional tunability, thus making it a promising tool for separation of organic solvents that are often used in the manufacturing process of pharmaceutical formulations and lacquer thinners.

Effects of twisting and bending on LP_21 mode propagation in optical fiber

Twisting and bending characteristics of low-multimode LP21 mode propagation in optical fibers is presented for the first time. Theoretical fiber mode modeling, combining geometrical rotation with opto-elastic effects, demonstrates that the propagation of the LP21 mode is bending-effect-immune. Experimental testing verifies that the LP21 mode specklegram rotates 0.9112 of the fiber twist angle in a fused silica fiber, independent of any fiber bending. This characteristic allows for the LP21 mode to be highly applicable in fiber specklegram sensors.

A novel solid-phase microextraction using coated fiber based sol–gel technique using poly(ethylene glycol) grafted multi-walled carbon nanotubes for determination of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and o-xylene in water samples with gas chromatography-flam ionization detector

In this study, poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) grafted onto multi-walled carbon nanotubes (PEG-g-MWCNTs) were synthesized by the covalent functionalization of MWCNTs with hydroxyl-terminated PEG chains. For the first time, functionalized product of PEG-g-MWCNTs was used as selective stationary phase to prepare the sol–gel solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fiber in combination with gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID) for the determination of ultra-trace levels of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and o-xylene (BTEX) in real water samples. The PEG-g-MWCNTs were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectra and also thermo-gravimetric analysis, which verified that PEG chains were grafted onto the surface of the MWCNTs. The scanning electron micrographs of the fiber surface revealed a highly porous structure which greatly increases the surface area for PEG-g-MWCNTs sol–gel coating. This fiber demonstrated many inherent advantages, the main being the strong anchoring of the coating to the fused silica resulting from chemical bonding with the silanol groups on the fused-silica fiber surface. The new PEG-g-MWCNTs sol–gel fiber is simple to prepare, robust, with high thermal stability and long lifetime, up to 200 extractions. Important parameters influencing the extraction efficiency such as desorption temperature and time, extraction temperature, extraction time, stirring speed and salt effect were investigated and optimized. Under the optimal conditions, the method detection limits (S/N = 3) were in the range of 0.6–3 pg mL −1 and the limits of quantification (S/N = 10) between 2 and 10 pg mL −1. The relative standard deviations (RSDs) for one fiber (repeatability) ( n = 5) were obtained from 4.40 up to 5.75% and between fibers or batch to batch ( n = 3) (reproducibility) in the range of 4.31–6.55%. The developed method was successfully applied to real water samples while the relative recovery percentages obtained for the spiked water samples at 20 pg mL −1 were from 90.21 to 101.90%.

Full vectorial analysis of Brillouin gain in random acoustically microstructured photonic crystal fibers

We report on the fully vectorial numerical investigation of Brillouin gain in large-mode-area random acoustically microstructured photonic crystal fibers. We treated the fiber core as a linear isotropic elastic medium, resulting in an energy functional that we minimized to obtain the heterogeneous, anisotropic, and Stokes-frequency-dependent vector acoustic displacement field used to calculate the Brillouin gain spectra with a finite element method. We found that the peak Brillouin gain is dependent on the size of the acoustic domains and that a 4% spread in acoustic velocities results in peak Brillouin gain values suppressed by 8 dB relative to that of homogeneous fused silica fibers.

In vivo solid-phase microextraction for monitoring intravenous concentrations of drugs and metabolites

This protocol for in vivo solid-phase microextraction (SPME) can be used to monitor and quantify intravenous concentrations of drugs and metabolites without the need to withdraw a blood sample for analysis. The SPME probe is inserted directly into a peripheral vein of a living animal through a standard medical catheter, and extraction occurs typically over 2-5 min. After extraction, the analytes are removed from the sorbent and analyzed by, for example, liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. It has been validated in comparison with conventional blood analysis, and we describe here the in vitro experiments typically conducted during method development. The new-generation biocompatible SPME probes are designed specifically for extraction of semi-volatiles and nonvolatiles directly from aqueous samples and can be steam sterilized. Sorbents are coated on fine-gauge surgical steel wire (200-μm diameter), which is more rugged and biocompatible than conventional fibers (100-μm fused silica fiber). They incorporate a binding agent that resists fouling by the biological matrix and does not cause an immune response in the experimental animal. The sorbents used (coating thickness of ∼50 μm) are selected for their affinity for the types of small molecules of interest. The procedure is illustrated by the analysis of benzodiazepines with polypyrrole-coated wires inserted into peripheral blood vessels of beagles, although it can be adapted for use in smaller animals. The in vivo sampling can require as little as 1 min, in which case the entire procedure from sampling to instrumental analysis can take as little as 30 min.

Brillouin Scattering in Polymer Optical Fibers: Fundamental Properties and Potential Use in Sensors

We review the fundamental properties of Brillouin scattering in a perfluorinated graded-index polymer optical fiber (PFGI-POF) with 120 μm core diameter. The experiments were performed at 1.55 μm telecommunication wavelength. The Brillouin frequency shift (BFS) and the Brillouin bandwidth were 2.83 GHz and 105 MHz, respectively. The Brillouin gain coefficient was calculated to be 3.09 × 10−11 m/W, which was comparable to that of fused silica fibers. The Brillouin threshold power of the 100 m POF was estimated to be as high as 24 W, which can be, for practical applications, reduced by using POFs with smaller cores. These properties were compared with those of silica-based graded-index multi-mode fibers. We also investigated the BFS dependences on strain and temperature. They showed negative dependences with coefficients of −121.8 MHz/% and −4.09 MHz/K, respectively, which are −0.2 and −3.5 times as large as those in silica fibers. These BFS dependences indicate that the Brillouin scattering in PFGI-POFs can be potentially applied to high-accuracy temperature sensing with reduced strain sensitivity.

Apparatus for dimensional characterization of fused silica fibers for the suspensions of advanced gravitational wave detectors

Detection of gravitational waves from astrophysical sources remains one of the most challenging problems faced by experimental physicists. A significant limit to the sensitivity of future long-baseline interferometric gravitational wave detectors is thermal displacement noise of the test mass mirrors and their suspensions. Suspension thermal noise results from mechanical dissipation in the fused silica suspension fibers suspending the test mass mirrors and is therefore an important noise source at operating frequencies between ∼10 and 30 Hz. This dissipation occurs due to a combination of thermoelastic damping, surface and bulk losses. Its effects can be reduced by optimizing the thermoelastic and surface loss, and these parameters are a function of the cross sectional dimensions of the fiber along its length. This paper presents a new apparatus capable of high resolution measurements of the cross sectional dimensions of suspension fibers of both rectangular and circular cross section, suitable for use in advanced detector mirror suspensions.

Continuous wave stimulated Raman scattering of benzene by fluorescence enhancement in hollow fused silica fiber

AbstractWe present continuous wave stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) of benzene (C6H6) influenced by the fluorescent dye m‐cresol purple in a hollow fused silica fiber (HFSF). Because of the transmission loss of the HFSF filled with C6H6, the SRS occurs when the Stokes gain equals the transmission loss, with the loss taken at the Stokes wavelength. The 992 cm−1 stimulated Stokes line has been obtained at the pump wavelength 658 nm, which cannot be obtained at 532 nm because the Stokes wavelength (562 nm) does not locate in the transmission loss. Also, the pump power is 35 mW with m‐cresol purple which is much lower than 800 mW without the dye. The profile of the 992 cm−1 stimulated Stokes is changed, and the weak shoulders of the profile are amplified by fluorescence. These results are expected to be of relevance in applications on the tunable Raman laser at new wavelengths. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A new solid phase micro extraction for simultaneous head space extraction of ultra traces of polar and non-polar compounds

The results of the innovative study on a new stationary phase with high efficiency based on ZnO nano and micro rod coating on fused silica are reported in this paper. ZnO nanorods with a diameter in the range of 70–300 nm and the length of about 500 nm, have been grown on fused silica fibers using a hydrothermal process. The extraction properties of the fiber were investigated using headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) mode coupled with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry detection (GC–MS) for 1,4-dichloro-nitrobenzene, biphenyl and acenaphthene. The calibration curves were linear up to 10 2–10 7 ng L −1 ( R 2 > 0.995) with detection limits of 10 −3 ng L −1 for biphenyl and acenaphthene and 10 ng L −1 for 1,4-dichloro-nitrobenzene. The RSD for single fiber and fiber-to-fiber were less than 7.0 and 11.5%, respectively. The high stability of the ZnO coating is proved at relatively high temperatures (up to 300 °C) with a high extraction capacity and long lifespan (more than 100 times). Promising recoveries (91–102%) were obtained in environmental water samples analysis by applying the proposed technique.

Invited Article: CO2 laser production of fused silica fibers for use in interferometric gravitational wave detector mirror suspensions

In 2000 the first mirror suspensions to use a quasi-monolithic final stage were installed at the GEO600 detector site outside Hannover, pioneering the use of fused silica suspension fibers in long baseline interferometric detectors to reduce suspension thermal noise. Since that time, development of the production methods of fused silica fibers has continued. We present here a review of a novel CO(2) laser-based fiber pulling machine developed for the production of fused silica suspensions for the next generation of interferometric gravitational wave detectors and for use in experiments requiring low thermal noise suspensions. We discuss tolerances, strengths, and thermal noise performance requirements for the next generation of gravitational wave detectors. Measurements made on fibers produced using this machine show a 0.8% variation in vertical stiffness and 0.05% tolerance on length, with average strengths exceeding 4 GPa, and mechanical dissipation which meets the requirements for Advanced LIGO thermal noise performance.

Perspective: Gravitational waves: “Invited article: CO2 laser production of fused silica fibers for use in interferometric gravitational wave detector mirror suspensions” [Rev. Sci. Instrum. 82, 011301 (2011)

Perspective: Gravitational waves: “Invited article: CO2 laser production of fused silica fibers for use in interferometric gravitational wave detector mirror suspensions” [Rev. Sci. Instrum. <b>82</b>, 011301 (2011)

New SPME fibre for analysis of mequinol emitted from DVDs

AbstractA piece of fused-silica fibre coated with silica modified with ketamine-groups was used as a solidphase microextraction (SPME) fibre and its efficiency in the qualitative and quantitative analysis of volatile organic compounds released from coloured overprinting on DVDs was evaluated. The effect of the parameters that can affect the SPME procedure, such as extraction time, extraction temperature, desorption temperature, was investigated to determine the analytical performance of this novel fibre in the qualitative and quantitative analyses of organic compounds. The optimised procedure was applied to the qualitative and quantitative analyses of organic compounds released from coloured overprinting on DVDs. The limit of detection of 4-methoxyphenol (mequinol) was 88 × 10−3 μg mL−1, while the limit of quantification (LOQ) was calculated as ten times the baseline noise, i.e. 3.1 × 10−1 μg mL−1. The proposed fibre was used successfully for preconcentration of the volatile organic compounds from the gaseous phase of DVD samples.

Large aperture tapered fiber phase conjugate mirror in MOPA laser systems with high repetition rate and high pulse energy

A large aperture tapered fused silica fiber phase conjugate mirror with a maximum 50.7% stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) reflectivity is presented, which is operated with 400 Hz pulse repetition rate and 36.5 mJ input pulse energy. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time that over 50% SBS reflectivity is achieved by using solid-state phase conjugate mirror under such high pulse repetition rate and high pulse energy. With much higher pulse repetition rate of 500 and 1000 Hz, the maximum SBS reflectivity is 41.2% and 33.3%, respectively. A single-longitudinal-mode Nd:YAG laser is experimentally studied with master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) scheme using such a tapered fiber as a phase conjugate mirror. A 101 mJ pulse energy is achieved at 400 Hz repetition rate, with a pulse width of 6 ns and a M 2 factor of less than 2. The corresponding peak power reaches 16.8 MW.

A novel reusable ionic liquid chemically bonded fused-silica fiber for headspace solid-phase microextraction/gas chromatography-flame ionization detection of methyl tert-butyl ether in a gasoline sample

A novel ionic liquid (IL) bonded fused-sil-ica fiber for headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME)/gas chromatography-flame ionization detection (GC-FID) of methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) in a gasoline sample was prepared and used. The new proposed chemically bonded fiber has better thermal stability and durability than its corresponding physically coated fiber. Another advantage is that no spacer was used for the purpose of bonding the IL to the surface of the fused-silica. The latter advantage makes the preparation of these fibers easier with lower cost than those prepared using sol–gel method. The ionic liquid 1-methyl-3-(3-trimethoxysilyl propyl) imidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide was synthesized and cross linked to the surface of the fused-silica fiber. Then, the chemically IL-modified fibers were applied to the headspace extraction of MTBE. The chemically IL-modified fibers showed improved thermal stability at temperatures up to 220°C relative to the physically IL-modified fibers (180°C). The chemically bonded IL film on the surface of the fused-silica fiber was durable over 16 headspace extractions without any significant loss of the IL film. The calibration graph was linear in a concentration range of 2–240μgL−1 (R2=0.996) with the detection limit of 0.1μgL−1 level. The reproducibility (RSD %, n=6) of the new IL bonded fused-silica fiber (8.9%) was better than the physically coated fiber (12%) suggesting that the proposed chemically IL-modified fiber is more robust than the physically IL-modified fiber. The optimum extraction conditions were the followings: 40°C extraction temperature, 12min extraction time, 30s desorption time and sample agitation at 200rpm.

광섬유형 방향성 결합기의 광 분배비를 이용한 수위 센서 연구

Abstract: A liquid-air interface sensing system using the flat end surfaces of a fused-silica fiber coupler has been demonstrated. The principle is based on the additional optical loss caused by changing the refractive index of the external material at the boundary of the end face made of a fiber. The immersion characteristics of this system with respect to the different splitting ratios of the couplers were investigated to determine the sensitivity when it responses to water and air. T hese experimental data are very useful for selecting the coupling ratio of a coupler i n order to develop a multiple sensing probe system. In the proposed sensor structure , it can be emphasize that the sensing probe can be appropriately arrayed on the basi s of splitting ratio of the coupler. As a result, it is expected that the proposed liquid-air interface sensors can also be applied to monitor flooding that occurs in multiple areas at the same time. Key words: Fiber-optic sensor, Directional coupler, Splitting ratio, Immer sion sensors, Snell's law

Experimental study of Brillouin scattering in perfluorinated polymer optical fiber at telecommunication wavelength

Brillouin scattering properties in a perfluorinated graded-index polymer optical fiber (POF) with 120 μm core diameter were experimentally investigated using a laser with an operating wavelength of 1.55 μm. The Brillouin frequency shift and the Brillouin bandwidth were 2.83 GHz and 105 MHz, respectively. The calculated Brillouin gain coefficient of 3.09×10−11 m/W was comparable to that of fused silica fibers. The Brillouin threshold power of the 100 m POF was estimated to be 24 W, which we believe can be reduced by employing POFs with smaller cores.