High-visibility photonic crystal fiber interferometer for ultrasensitive refractometric sensing

Guillermo A. Cárdenas-Sevilla; Fernando C. Fávero; Vittoria Finazzi; Joel Villatoro; Valerio Pruneri

doi:10.1117/12.901942

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25 October 2011 High-visibility photonic crystal fiber interferometer for ultrasensitive refractometric sensing

Guillermo A. Cárdenas-Sevilla, Fernando C. Fávero, Vittoria Finazzi, Joel Villatoro, Valerio Pruneri

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Proceedings Volume 8011, 22nd Congress of the International Commission for Optics: Light for the Development of the World; 80114K (2011) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.901942
Event: International Commission for Optics (ICO 22), 2011, Puebla, Mexico

Abstract

A simple and compact photonic crystal fiber (PCF) interferometer that operates in reflection mode is proposed for refractive index (RI) sensing. The device consists of a ~12mm-long stub of commercially available PCF (LMA-10) fusion spliced to standard optical fiber (SMF-28). The device reflection spectrum exhibits interference patterns with fringe contrast up to 40 dB. One of the excited modes in the PCF is sensitive to external RI therefore the device can be useful for refractrometry. The shift of the interference pattern can be monitored as a function of the external index. In the operating range, from 1.33 to 1.43, the maximum shift is less than the interferometer period, so there is no-ambiguity in the measurements. The maximum sensitivity and resolution achieved were 735 nm per RI units and 7×10^-5, respectively. Another approach to measure the external RI consists of monitoring the reflection power located at the quadrature point of the inference pattern in a properly selected wavelength. Consequently the measuring range is narrower but the resolution is higher, up ~7×10^-6, thanks to the high fringe contrast.

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Guillermo A. Cárdenas-Sevilla, Fernando C. Fávero, Vittoria Finazzi, Joel Villatoro, and Valerio Pruneri "High-visibility photonic crystal fiber interferometer for ultrasensitive refractometric sensing", Proc. SPIE 8011, 22nd Congress of the International Commission for Optics: Light for the Development of the World, 80114K (25 October 2011); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.901942

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