Abstract

We propose and demonstrate the possibility of using a permanently microbent bare optical fiber for detecting chemical species. Two detection schemes, viz., a bright-field detection scheme (for the core modes), and a dark-field detection scheme (for the cladding modes) have been employed to produce a fiber-optic sensor. The sensor described here is sensitive enough to detect concentrations as low as nanomoles per liter of a chemical species, with a dynamic range of more than 6 orders of magnitude.

© 2001 Optical Society of America

Remote fiber-optic chemical sensing using evanescent-wave interactions in chalcogenide glass fibers

Jong Heo, Monica Rodrigues, Steven J. Saggese, and George H. Sigel
Appl. Opt. 30(27) 3944-3951 (1991)

Photonic crystal fiber based evanescent-wave sensor for detection of biomolecules in aqueous solutions

Jesper B. Jensen, Lars H. Pedersen, Poul E. Hoiby, Lars B. Nielsen, T. P. Hansen, J. R. Folkenberg, J. Riishede, Danny Noordegraaf, Kristian Nielsen, A. Carlsen, and A. Bjarklev
Opt. Lett. 29(17) 1974-1976 (2004)

Porous solgel fiber as a transducer for highly sensitive chemical sensing

Shiquan Tao, Christopher B. Winstead, Jagdish P. Singh, and Rajeev Jindal
Opt. Lett. 27(16) 1382-1384 (2002)

Synthesis of MFI zeolite films on optical fibers for detection of chemical vapors

Hai Xiao, Jian Zhang, Junhang Dong, Ming Luo, Robert Lee, and Van Romero
Opt. Lett. 30(11) 1270-1272 (2005)

Remote spectroscopic sensing of chemical adsorption using a single multimode optical fiber

K. Newby, W. M. Reichert, J. D. Andrade, and R. E. Benner
Appl. Opt. 23(11) 1812-1815 (1984)