Sensitivity enhancement for evanescent wave-excited fiber optic fluorescent sensors

Richard B. Thompson; Lynne M. Kondracki

doi:10.1117/12.17684

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1 May 1990 Sensitivity enhancement for evanescent wave-excited fiber optic fluorescent sensors

Richard B. Thompson, Lynne M. Kondracki

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Proceedings Volume 1204, Time-Resolved Laser Spectroscopy in Biochemistry II; (1990) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.17684
Event: OE/LASE '90, 1990, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Abstract

An important class of fiber optic sensors employs evanescent wave-excited fluorescence of labeled molecules bound to the waveguide surface to transduce a molecular recognition event, typically by an antibody. Unfortunately, the monolayer character of the sample, the small surface area, and the relatively low intensity of the evanescent wave all combine to limit sensitivity. In attempting to find a normalized frequency parameter (V number) of the optical fiber that optimized sensitivity, we found that our design (similar to those in the literature) had a loss mechanism which decreases its sensitivity and utility for remote sensing. We introduce here a design feature which addresses the loss mechanism.

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Richard B. Thompson and Lynne M. Kondracki "Sensitivity enhancement for evanescent wave-excited fiber optic fluorescent sensors", Proc. SPIE 1204, Time-Resolved Laser Spectroscopy in Biochemistry II, (1 May 1990); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.17684

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