Open AccessThin-Fiber-Based Fabry–Pérot Cavity for Monitoring Microfluidic Refractive Index
Author(s) -
Xiaoling Ni,
Songnian Fu,
Zhiyong Zhao
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
ieee photonics journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.725
H-Index - 73
eISSN - 1943-0655
pISSN - 1943-0647
DOI - 10.1109/jphot.2016.2566448
Subject(s) - engineered materials, dielectrics and plasmas , photonics and electrooptics
We report an all-fiber miniature exposed Fabry-Pérot (F-P) cavity microfluidic refractometer by splicing an ultrashort segment of thin fiber with standard single-mode fiber with large off-center alignment. Theoretical investigations of dynamic range and sensitivity issues for the proposed fiber sensors are carried out. The exposed F-P cavity can provide excellent interaction between embedded gas/liquid with guided light, with a high sensitivity of 1086 nm/RIU at ~1550 nm within the refractive index (RI) range from 1.332 to 1.3565. Meanwhile, the exposed F-P cavity structure is insensitive to temperature fluctuation. The simple and cheap fabrication method, together with ultracompact package, stable operation, and low-temperature cross-sensitivity, verify that it has great potential for microfluidic RI sensing for chemical, biological, and medical applications.