Refractive Index Sensing with D-Shaped Plastic Optical Fibers for Chemical and Biochemical Applications

Sensors

Alisa Rudnitskaya¹  Maria Pesavento²  Luigi Zeni³  Nunzio Cennamo³  Filipa Sequeira⁴  Lúcia Bilro⁴  Daniel Duarte⁴ 

[1] CESAM, University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal;Department of Chemistry, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia, Italy;Department of Industrial and Information Engineering, Second University of Naples, 81031 Aversa, Italy;Instituto de Telecomunicações, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal;

关键词: plastic optical fiber (POF);    refractive index sensors;    optical fiber sensors;    remote sensing;    chemical and biochemical sensing;   

DOI  :  10.3390/s16122119

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

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.

【 授权许可】

Unknown