Formation and characterization of ultra-sensitive surface plasmon resonance sensor based upon a nano-scale corrugated multi-layered coated D-shaped optical fiber

Thomas D.P. Allsop, Ronald Neal, Chengbo Mou, Kyriacos Kalli, Sayah Saied, Saeed Rehman, David J. Webb, P.F. Culverhouse, John L. Sullivan, Ian Bennion

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

We present experimental results on the performance of a series of coated, D-shaped optical fiber sensors that display high spectral sensitivities to external refractive index. Sensitivity to the chosen index regime and coupling of the fiber core mode to the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) is enhanced by using specific materials as part of a multi-layered coating. We present strong evidence that this effect is enhanced by post ultraviolet radiation of the lamellar coating that results in the formation of a nano-scale surface relief corrugation structure, which generates an index perturbation within the fiber core that in turn enhances the coupling. We have found reasonable agreement when we modeling the fiber device. It was found that the SPR devices operate in air with high coupling efficiency in excess of 40 dB with spectral sensitivities that outperform a typical long period grating, with one device yielding a wavelength spectral sensitivity of 12000 nm/RIU in the important aqueous index regime. The devices generate SPRs over a very large wavelength range, (visible to 2 mu m) by alternating the polarization state of the illuminating light.
Original languageEnglish
Article number6156735
Pages (from-to)394-405
Number of pages12
JournalIEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics
Volume48
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2012

Bibliographical note

© 2012 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.

Keywords

  • fiber optics
  • index sensitivity
  • surface plasmons resonance

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Formation and characterization of ultra-sensitive surface plasmon resonance sensor based upon a nano-scale corrugated multi-layered coated D-shaped optical fiber'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this