Photonic Crystal Fiber Loop Mirror-Based Chemical Vapor Sensor

Author

Luo Niu ; Chun-Liu Zhao ; Liang Qi ; Chi Chiu Chan ; Juan Kang ; Shangzhong Jin ; Jiangtao Guo ; Huifeng Wei

Author_Institution

Inst. of Optoelectron. Technol., China Jiliang Univ., Hangzhou, China

Volume

32

Issue

22

fYear

2014

fDate

Nov.15, 15 2014

Firstpage

4416

Lastpage

4421

Abstract

A compact chemical vapor sensor based on a fiber loop mirror (FLM) inserted with a high-birefringent photonic crystal fiber (HiBi-PCF) is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. Because the resonant dips of the HiBi-PCF FLM are sensitive to the phase difference between two counter-propagating waves in the FLM, a highly sensitive chemical vapor can be achieved by measuring the resonant dip shifts when chemical vapor diffuses into the air holes of the HiBi-PCF. Experimental results show a high sensitivity of 15.5 pm/ppm for ethanol is obtained when a 5.1 cm long HiBi-PCF is used in the FLM. Three different mechanisms for the high sensitivity of the proposed sensor are discussed. A liquefaction model with a full-vector finite element method is proposed and is regarded as the main contribution.

Keywords

birefringence; fibre optic sensors; finite element analysis; gas sensors; holey fibres; mirrors; organic compounds; photonic crystals; air holes; chemical vapor diffusion; compact chemical vapor sensor; counter-propagating waves; ethanol; full-vector finite element method; high-birefringent photonic crystal fiber; liquefaction model; photonic crystal fiber loop mirror-based chemical vapor sensor; resonant dips; size 5.1 cm; Chemicals; Ethanol; Optical fiber couplers; Optical fiber sensors; Photonic crystal fibers; Sensitivity; Optical fiber applications; optical sensors; volatile organic compounds;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Lightwave Technology, Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0733-8724

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JLT.2014.2357897

Filename

6897921