In-line optical fiber sensors based on cladded multimode tapered fibers

The use of uniform-waist cladded multimode tapered optical fibers is demonstrated for evanescent wave spectroscopy and sensors. The tapering is a simple, low-loss process and consists of stretching the fiber while it is being heated with an oscillating flame torch. As examples, a refractive-index sensor and a hydrogen sensor are demonstrated by use of a conventional graded-index multimode optical fiber. Also, absorbance spectra are measured while the tapers are immersed in an absorbing liquid. It is found experimentally that the uniform waist is the part of the taper that contributes most to the sensor sensitivity. The taper waist diameter may also be used to adjust the sensor dynamic range.     

Optical-fiber surface-plasmon resonance sensor with multiple resonance peaks

We report on an optical fiber surface plasmon resonance sensor that exhibits multiple resonance peaks. The sensor is based on a uniform-waist single-mode tapered fiber coated on one side with a thin metal layer. Owing to the asymmetry of the sensor structure, the different hybrid surface plasmon modes supported by the semicircular layer can be excited by the fundamental fiber mode. As a result, the sensor transmission spectrum exhibits several dips that depend on the taper waist diameter. The advantages of a plasmon resonance sensor with multiple dips are discussed.     

A Novel Fiber-Optic Tapered Long-Period Grating Sensor for Pressure Monitoring

The method and the required installations for fabricating tapered long-period fiber gratings can be simpler than that of standard fiber Bragg gratings, and the fabrication process is faster. To our knowledge, the tapered long-period fiber grating pressure sensor is presented here for the first time. In this paper, the fabrication method for tapered long-period fiber gratings, the sensing principle, the sensor structure, the measurement setup, and the preliminary results are presented and discussed. The pressure sensitivity of the sensor is as high as 5.1 pm/bar.     

Carbon dioxide laser fabrication of fused-fiber couplers and tapers

We report the development of a fiber taper and fused-fiber coupler fabrication rig that uses a scanning, focused, CO(2) laser beam as the heat source. As a result of the pointlike heat source and the versatility associated with scanning, tapers of any transition shape and uniform taper waist can be produced. Tapers with both a linear shape and an exponential transition shape were measured. The taper waist uniformity was measured and shown to be better than +/-1.2%. The rig was also used to make fused-fiber couplers. Couplers with excess loss below -0.1 dB were routinely produced.     

Eigenvalue equation and core-mode cutoff of weakly guiding tapered fiber as three layer optical waveguide and used as biochemical sensor

The core-mode cutoff plays a major role in evanescent field absorption based sensors. A method has been proposed to calculate the core-mode cutoff by solving the eigenvalue equations of a weakly guiding three layer optical waveguide graphically. The variation of normalized waveguide parameter (V) is also calculated with different wavelengths at core-mode cutoff. At the first step, theoretical analysis of tapered fiber parameters has been performed for core-mode cutoff. The taper angle of an adiabatic tapered fiber is also analyzed using the length-scale criterion. Secondly, single-mode tapered fiber has been developed to make a precision sensor element suitable for chemical detection. Finally, the sensor element has been used to detect absorption peak of ethylenediamine. Results are presented in which an absorption peak at 1540 nm is observed.     

Detection of gases with porous-clad tapered fibers

The detection of gases by the attenuation of the transmitted power in a multimode step-index tapered fiber with porous cladding is described. The results have been compared with those obtained for a uniform fiber. It has been shown that, for given fiber parameters, the absorptivity of the gas and its diffusion coefficient in the porous cladding, the sensor response time, and the minimum detectable concentration of the gas depend on the taper ratio. The higher the taper ratio, the smaller the response time and the minimum detectable concentration.     

微纳Taper光纤干涉传感器的折射率测量理论研究

利用微纳taper光纤干涉方程和微纳光纤传输模式函数关系,建立了微纳taper光纤干涉波长随环境折射率变化的数学模型,指出微纳taper光纤干涉波长的响应规律由基模高阶模有效折射率差、色散因子和环境折射率3个因素所决定.详细研究了微纳taper光纤传感器的灵敏度变化规律,结果表明,传感器的灵敏度随光纤半径变小而急速增大,并随环境折射率的增大而非线性增加,而且探测波长越长,其灵敏度越大.     

低损耗双锥光纤的制备与光学特性研究

利用熔拉法制备了双锥光纤,系统地研究了拉制过程中拉制距离、拉制速度、氢气流量等参数与双锥光纤光学传输特性关系,实验表明,拉制距离控制在30mm-32mm,拉制速度在0.15mm/s,氢气流量在140-150之间时,可以得到损耗在0.5dB-0.7dB,锥腰直径介于0.6μm-2.5μm的低损耗双锥光纤。利用自行制备的双锥光纤进行微球腔耦合实验,得到微球腔良好的透射谱线。该范围内的双锥光纤可以高效激发微球腔回廊模式,对微球腔的应用以及双锥光纤在光传感应用方面具有指导意义。     

Study of a fiber optic humidity sensor based on agarose gel

An optical fiber humidity sensor was fabricated using a hydrophilic gel (agarose) deposited on the tapered plastic optical fiber (POF). The sensing element, agarose, can absorb and exude moisture from/to the ambience, thereby altering its refractive index and changing its ability to modulate the intensity of light that propagates through the fiber. Thus, the operating principle of the sensor is based on the intensity modulation technique, which utilizes a tapered POF probe coated with agarose that is sensitive to humidity. The POF, which was fabricated using an etching method, has a waist diameter of 0.45 mm and tapering length of 10 mm. As the relative humidity varies from 50% to 80%, the output voltage of the sensor with agarose gel of 0.5% weight content decreases linearly from 2.24 mV to 1.55 mV. The agarose-based sensor produces a sensitivity of 0.0228 mV/%, with a slope linearity of more than 98.36%. The tapered fiber with agarose gel of 1% weight content produces a sensitivity of 0.0103 mV/% with a slope linearity of more than 94.95% and a limit of detection of 2.635%, while the tapered fiber with agarose gel of 1.5% weight content produces a sensitivity of 0.0079 mV/% with a slope linearity of more than 98.53% and a limit of detection of 6.853%. The fiber with agarose gel of 0.5% weight content shows higher sensitivity compared to that of 1% and 1.5% due to the effect of pore size, which changes with concentration. The results demonstrate that agarose-based optical fiber sensors are both sensitive and efficient for economical and flexible measurements of humidity.     

Surface plasmon resonance sensors based on uniform-waist tapered fibers in a reflective configuration

We present a configuration for surface plasmon resonance sensors based on uniform-waist tapered optical fibers and reflective elements. Once the fiber is tapered fulfilling the adiabatic criterion, a multilayer including a metallic medium is asymmetrically deposited on the uniform waist of the fiber. This feature provides the resonant excitation of multiple surface plasma waves. In addition, a mirror is produced at the fiber tip by a chemical Tollens reaction. In this way, the sensor operates in a reflective mode, more convenient for dip probes. When these sensors are spectrally interrogated, a high sensitivity of 10-4 refractive index units per nanometer is attained. These devices can be advantageously used for any kind of chemical sensing and biosensing.     

光纤探针型近场光镊光强分布特性的数值模拟

光纤探针型近场光镊是近场光学领域中的新型技术,因其可对纳米尺度微粒直接进行捕获和操纵而受到广泛关注,其光纤探针尖端的近场分布特性影响着纳米粒子捕获及操纵的成败探针金属膜外侧电磁场由光波在针尖小孔处衍射而成,根据夫朗和费衍射公式分析了圆形纳米小孔的光波衍射图样,运用时域有限差分法（FDTD）研究了均匀平面波垂直入射于镀膜光纤探针的近场分布,比较了不同锥角、不同出射孔径、不同金属膜厚度及不同入射波长的近场分布情况,并对不同情况下的通光效率进行了分析。通过对各参数的计算与比较,结果表明,当锥角越大、孔径越大、镀合适膜厚并且入射波长越小时,探针尖端的出射光强越大并具有较大的通光效率     

Effect of external index of refraction on multimode fiber couplers

The dependence of the performance of fused-taper multimode fiber couplers on the refractive index of the material surrounding the taper region has been investigated both theoretically and experimentally. It has been identified that for a 2 × 2 multimode fiber coupler there is a range of output-power-coupling ratios for which the effect of the external refractive index is negligible. When the coupler is tapered beyond this region, the performance becomes dependent on the external index of refraction and lossy. To analyze the multimode coupler-loss mechanism, we develop a two-dimensional ray-optics model that incorporates trapped cladding-mode loss and core-mode loss through frustrated total internal reflection.

Computer-simulation results support the experimental observations. Related issues such as coupler fabrication and packaging are also discussed.

     

Low-cost optical amplitude modulator based on a tapered single-mode optical fiber

A new, to our knowledge, modulator based on a tapered single-mode optical fiber is introduced. The electro-optic device consists of a tapered optical fiber placed on a resonator made of a piezoelectric material. An electrical signal applied to the piezoelectric material makes the taper bend, and that displacement produces a modulation in the intensity of the optical signal traveling through the fiber. This device is very easy to build and is low in cost. Because of its nature, this new device might be very useful in optical fiber sensors. Its performance is analyzed, and the results are discussed.     

Evanescent-absorption coefficient for diffuse source illumination: uniform- and tapered-fiber sensors

A comparative study of evanescent-wave fiber-optic absorption sensors based on uniform and tapered fibers has been carried out. The expressions for an effective evanescent-absorption coefficient have been derived for diffused or Lambertian source illumination. It has been shown that the sensitivity of sensors depends on the numerical aperture of the fiber, the taper ratio, and the refractive index of the absorbing fluid. The higher the sensitivity the smaller the range of functional refractive indices of the fluid. In the case of taper, which fiber (with a low or high numerical aperture) has maximum sensitivity depends on the refractive index of the fluid.     

微光纤光学谐振器的原理与应用

由传统光纤拉锥形成的直径为几百纳米到几微米的微光纤具有大倏逝场、强光场束缚能力、高光学非线性、易于弯曲的可塑性和兼容现有光纤系统的便利性等优势,为发展小型和功能集成的全光纤器件提供了高自由度的平台。作为基础的光电子器件之一,光学谐振器在光通信、传感、信号处理、量子光学等领域具有很大的研究价值,被广泛应用。传统光学微谐振器多基于光刻技术,制备工艺条件相对复杂。而随着微光纤制备技术的成熟,基于微光纤的光学谐振器也被提出并逐步发展。微光纤光学谐振器是一种基于倏逝场耦合的近场光学耦合器件,具有低插入损耗、高精细度、易于制造以及与光纤系统良好兼容性等诸多优点,可应用于滤波器、传感器、光调制器和光纤激光等诸多领域。本文从微光纤光学谐振器的基本原理、器件制备、应用等方面介绍了该领域的相关进展。

     

Sensitive acoustic vibration sensor using single-mode fiber tapers

Optical fiber sensors are a good alternative to piezoelectric devices in electromagnetic sensitive environments. In this study, we reported a fiber acoustic sensor based on single-mode fiber (SMF) tapers. The fiber taper is used as the sensing arm in a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. Benefiting from their micrometer dimensions, fiber tapers have shown higher sensitivities to the acoustic vibrations than SMFs. Under the same conditions, the thinnest fiber taper in this report, with a diameter of 1.7 μm, shows a 20 dB improvement in the signal to noise ratio as compared to that of an SMF. This acoustic vibration sensor can detect the acoustic waves over the frequencies of 30 Hz-40 kHz, which is limited by the acoustic wave generator in experiments. We also discussed the phase changes of fiber tapers with different diameters under acoustic vibrations.     

Highly efficient coupling of photons from nanoemitters into single-mode optical fibers

Highly efficient coupling of photons from nanoemitters into single-mode optical fibers is demonstrated using tapered fibers. A percentage (7.4 ± 1.2%) of the total emitted photons from single CdSe/ZnS nanocrystals were coupled into a 300 nm diameter tapered fiber. The dependence of the coupling efficiency on the taper diameter was investigated and the coupling efficiency was found to increase exponentially with decreasing diameter. This method is very promising for nanoparticle sensing and single-photon sources.     

Linear control of the spectral characteristics of wavelength-selective components with a high-index tapered thin-film planar waveguide and a single-mode half-coupler

A simple system of linearly tunable fiber-film wavelength-dependent components is demonstrated that includes a linearly tapered high-index thin-film planar waveguide (PWG) evanescently coupled by a single-mode-fiber half-coupler. We present experimental and theoretical results for the linear tuning of spectral responses such as coupled power, resonance position (lambda(0)), and fiber output-light polarization through position shifting of the linearly tapered PWG, in the direction of the propagating light in the fiber, over the half-coupler block. We achieved almost linear control of the spectral response by changing the temperature of mixture-of-oils and overlay-doped poly(methyl methacrylate) PWG's when the refractive index of the system decreases with temperature. The variation in thickness of the tapered film is along the direction of the interaction length of the system. Linear tapered PWG's that comprised a mixture of oils, BK7 glass, and overlay-doped PMMA with high refractive indices were fabricated that could operate the device at lower and higher modes. We investigated the dependence of tuning lambda(0) on the PWG mode. Tuning by shifting of a linear tapered PWG over a fiber half-block is mode dependent, whereas tuning by changing the refractive index of a uniform PWG is mode independent. Wavelength shift Dlambda(0) is found to decrease with an increase in the resonant PWG mode number m for linearly tapered PWG's. A fiber-to-asymmetric linear tapered-PWG coupler, which maintains the taper slope to within a specific limit, can function as a linearly tunable polarizer for the light in the fiber.     

Fiber Volume Fraction Influence on Fiber Compaction in Tapered Resin Injection Pultrusion Manufacturing

Liquid resin is injected into the tapered injection chamber through the injection slots to completely wetout the fiber reinforcements in a resin injection pultrusion process. As the resin penetrates through the fibers, the resin also pushes the fibers away from the wall towards the centerline causing compaction of the fiber reinforcements. The fibers are squeezed together due to compaction, making resin penetration more difficult; thus higher resin injection pressures are required to effectively penetrate through the fibers and achieve complete wetout. Fiber volume fraction in the final pultruded composite is a key to decide the mechanical and/or chemical properties of the composite. If the fiber volume fraction is too high, more fibers are squeezed together creating a fiber lean region near the wall and fiber rich region away from the wall. Also, the design of the injection chamber significantly affects the minimum injection pressure required to completely wet the fibers. A tapered injection chamber is considered such that wetout occurs at lower injection pressures due to the taper angle of the injection chamber. In this study, the effect of fiber volume fraction on the fiber reinforcement compaction and complete fiber wetout for a tapered injection chamber is investigated.     

Bio-inspired tapered fibers for composites with superior toughness

The toughness of fiber-reinforced composites largely relies on crack bridging. More specifically, intact fibers left behind the tip of a propagating crack are progressively pulled out of the matrix, dissipating energy which translates into toughness. While short fibers are traditionally straight, recent work has showed that they can be shaped to increase the pullout strength, but not necessarily the energy to pullout. In this work we have modeled, fabricated and tested short fibers with tapered ends inspired from a high-performance natural material: nacre from mollusc shells. The main idea was to duplicate a key mechanism where a slight waviness of the inclusion can generate strain hardening and energy dissipation when the inclusion is pulled out. We have incorporated a similar feature to short fibers, in the form of tapered ends with well defined opening angles. We performed pullout tests on tapered steel fibers in epoxy matrices, which showed that the pullout of tapered fiber dissipates up to 27 times more energy than straight fibers. The experimental results also indicated the existence of an optimum taper angle to maximize work of pullout while preventing the brittle fracture of the matrix. An analytical model was developed to capture the pullout mechanism and the interaction between fiber and matrix. The analytical model can guide the design of tapered fibers by providing predictions on the influence of different parameters.