Dual-demodulation large-scope high-sensitivity refractive index sensor based on twin-core PCF

In this paper, a refractive index (RI) sensor based on the twin-core photonic crystal fiber (TC-PCF) is presented. Introducing the rectangular array in the core area makes the PCF possible to obtain high birefringence and low confinement loss over the wavelength range from 0.6 μm to 1.7 μm. Therefore, the core region can enhance the interaction between the core mode and the filling material. We studied theoretically the evolution characteristics of the birefringence and operating wavelength corresponding to the strongest polarization point under the condition of filling the rectangular array with RI matching fluid range from 1.33 to 1.41. Simulation results reveal that the proposed TC-PCF has opposite evolutions of change rates between the B and wavelength, and the maximum RI sensing sensitivities of 1.809×10-2 B/RIU and 8 700 nm/RIU at low and high RI infill are obtained respectively, which means that the TC-PCF features of dual-parameter demodulation for the RI sensing can maintain a high refractive index sensing sensitivity within a large scope of RI ranging from 1.33 to 1.41. Compared with the results of single-parameter demodulation, it is an optimized method to improve the sensitivity of low refractive index sensors, which has great application potency in the field of biochemical sensing and detection.     

Intermodal interference based refractive index sensor employing elliptical core photonic crystal fiber

A refractive index (RI) sensor based on elliptical core photonic crystal fiber (EC-PCF) has been proposed. The asymmetric elliptical core introduces the polarization-dependent characteristics of the fiber core modes. The performances of intermodal interference between the intrinsic polarization fiber core modes are investigated by contrast in two interferometers based on the Mach-Zehnder (M-Z) and Sagnac interference model. In addition, the RI sensing characteristics of the two interferometers are studied by successively filling the three layers air holes closest to the elliptical core in the cladding. The results show that the M-Z interference between LP01 and LP11 mode in the same polarized direction is featured with the incremental RI sensing sensitivity as the decreasing interference length, and the infilled scope around the elliptical core has a weak correlation with the RI sensing sensitivity. Due to the high birefringence of LP11 mode, the Sagnac interferometer has better RI sensing performance, the maximum RI sensing sensitivity of 12 000 nm/RIU is achieved under the innermost one layer air holes infilled with RI matching liquid of RI=1.39 at the pre-setting EC-PCF length of 12 cm, which is two orders of magnitude higher than the M-Z interferometer with the same fiber length. The series of theoretical optimized analysis would provide guidance for the applications in the field of biochemical sensing.     

Laser-tuned whispering gallery modes in silica microbubble resonator integrated with iron oxide particles

A 473-nm-laser-tuned whispering gallery mode(WGM) silica microbubble resonator integrated with iron oxide particles is demonstrated in this paper. Owing to the photo-induced thermal effect, the WGM resonance wavelength could be tuned by adjusting laser power density of the illuminating light absorbed by the iron oxide particles. A wavelength tuning sensitivity of 0.03 nm/(mW·mm^-2) and a tuning range of 0.18 nm are experimentally achieved. Moreover, the influence of ambient temperature on the WGM spectral characteristics is experimentally studied, and a silica-microbubble-based reference scheme is demonstrated to compensate for the temperature-caused resonance wavelength variation. The proposed laser-tuned microresonator has great potential in optical modulation and high-precision optical filtering applications.     

An on-line fiber cutting-welding method for the fabrication of Fabry-Perot micro-cavity

A Fabry-Perot micro-cavity is fabricated by on-line fiber cutting-welding method. The asymmetrical fiber Fabry-Perot micro-cavity is designed and produced by cutting a standard single-mode fiber and welding the fiber end with the core-offset structure. The length of the Fabry-Perot micro-cavity could be controlled within a certain range of accuracy based on the on-line fiber cutting-welding method. According to this method, a micro-machined Fabry-Perot micro-cavity with a length of about 147 μm is achieved and its spectral characteristic is also investigated in our experiment. This proposed method is suitable to produce a micro-fiber-optic structure with improved and controlled precision, which is attractive for the fiber processing field. Moreover, the fabricated Fabry-Perot micro-cavity also has potential application in the microfluidic system and biochemical detection area.     

湍流环境下组阵收发的深空激光通信系统性能

为了探究大气湍流对深空激光通信的影响,从理论上讨论了Gamma-Gamma分布的大气信道模型和抑制大气湍流的手段。建立了基于组阵收发的深空激光通信系统模型,对不同湍流条件下的系统误码率进行仿真。仿真结果表明:在信噪比为20 dB时,弱湍流环境的下行链路通信误码率比强湍流低4个数量级;大气湍流强度增强时,系统的通信误码率增大;在同等湍流强度下,大气湍流对于上行链路通信性能的影响比下行链路更大。     

Fiber-coupler-based microfluidic system for trapping of DNA biomolecules

A miniature fiber-coupler-based microfluidic system is proposed for trapping of DNA biomolecules. The loop-shaped fiber-coupler is fabricated by using flame tapering technique and integrated in a microfluidic channel. Probe-DNA immobilized on the fiber-coupler surface enables specific recognition of target DNA sequences and effectively facilitates the trapping of target DNA molecules. The binding characteristics of biomolecules on the fiber-coupler surface have been theoretically analyzed and experimentally demonstrated. Experimental results indicate that the spectral response of the loop-shaped fiber coupler immobilized with probe DNA exhibits a red-shift with the trapping of the DNA biomolecules. The proposed microfluidic system possesses such desirable merits as simple structure, label-free method and high integration, which make it a promising candidate for applications in molecular biology and related bioengineering areas.