We demonstrate a high-accuracy distributed fiber-optic temperature sensor using superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors and single-photon counting techniques. Our demonstration uses inexpensive single-mode fiber at standard telecommunications wavelengths as the sensing fiber, which enables extremely low-loss experiments and compatibility with existing fiber networks. We show that the uncertainty of the temperature measurement decreases with longer integration periods, but is ultimately limited by the calibration uncertainty. Temperature uncertainty on the order of 3 K is possible with spatial resolution of the order of 1 cm and integration period as small as 60 seconds. Also, we show that the measurement is subject to systematic uncertainties, such as polarization fading, which can be reduced with a polarization diversity receiver.
We present a proof-of-concept experiment aimed at increasing the sensitivity of temperature sensors implemented with Fiber Bragg gratings by making use of a weak value amplification scheme. The technique requires only linear optics elements for its implementation, and appears as a promising method for extending the range of temperatures changes detectable to increasingly lower values than state-of the-art sensors can currently provide. The device implemented here is able to generate a shift of the centroid of the spectrum of a pulse of $\mathrm{\sim 0.035\,nm/^{\circ}C}$, a nearly fourfold inc…
We demonstrate an amplitude-based micro-displacement sensor that uses a plastic photonic bandgap Bragg fiber with one end coated with a silver layer. The reflection intensity of the Bragg fiber is characterized in response to different displacements (or bending curvatures). We note that the Bragg reflector of the fiber acts as an efficient mode stripper for the wavelengths near the edge of the fiber bandgap, which makes the sensor extremely sensitive to bending or displacements at these wavelengths. Besides, by comparison of the Bragg fiber sensor to a sensor based on a regular multimode fiber…
We propose and experimentally demonstrate a low-refractive-index-contrast hollow-core Bragg fiber sensor for liquid analyte refractive index detection. The sensor operates using a resonant sensing principle- when the refractive index of a liquid analyte in the fiber core changes, the resonant confinement of the fiber guided mode will also change, leading to both the spectral shifts and intensity changes in fiber transmission. As a demonstration, we characterize the Bragg fiber sensor using a set of NaCl solutions with different concentrations. Strong spectral shifts are obtained with the senso…
We demonstrate an interferometric fiber-optic bending/micro-displacement sensor based on a plastic dual-core fiber with one end coated with a silver mirror. The two fiber cores are first excited with the same laser beam, the light in each core is then back-reflected at the mirror-coated fiber-end, and, finally, the light from the two cores is made to interfere at the coupling end. Bending of the fiber leads to shifting interference fringes that can be interrogated with a slit and a single photodetector. We find experimentally that the resolution of our bending sensor is ~3x10-4 m-1 for sensing…
Hydrogen detection is of great importance in chemical and energy industries. Optical fiber hydrogen sensors show flexibility and compactness and have the potential for distributed analysis. However, traditional fiber sensors encounter a challenge for light to interact with hydrogen directly since hydrogen only display weak quadrupole absorption, and metallic palladium and platinum thin-film coatings are typically used as an optically detectable label. Here, based on stimulated Raman spectroscopy in hollow-core photonic crystal fibers, we investigate the label-free optical fiber distributed hyd…
In this paper the angular characteristics of a multimode fiber SPR sensor are theoretically investigated. By separating the contributions of beams incident at different angles, a compact model is presented to predict the shift of the resonance wavelength with respect to the angle and the environmental refractive index. The result suggests that the performance of conventional fiber SPR sensors can be substantially improved by optimizing the incident angle. Furthermore, our investigation suggests some problems in previous reports.
We report fabrication of THz fiber Bragg gratings (TFBG) using CO2 laser inscription on subwavelength step-index polymer fibers. A fiber Bragg grating with 48 periods features a ~4 GHz-wide stop band and ~15 dB transmission loss in the middle of a stop band. The potential of such gratings in design of resonant sensor for monitoring of paper quality is demonstrated. Experimental spectral sensitivity of the TFBG-based paper thickness sensor was found to be ~ -0.67 GHz / 10 um. A 3D electromagnetic model of a Bragg grating was used to explain experimental findings.
In the present work a new model of a refractive index (RI) sensor is exhibited. This is based on a dual core micro-structured optical fiber (MOF), where two holes are introduced at the core centers. In this way, the model enhances the interaction of the fiber modes propagated in the core region, providing the possibility of increasing the dimensions of the fiber sensor. Thus, the filling of the fiber holes with the fluid under study is facilitated, and generally the practical use of the system as a refractive index sensor is greatly simplified. The sensitivity of the system for various configu…
We study the sensitivity of fiber grating sensors in the applications of strain, temperature, internal label-free biosensing, and internal refractive index sensing. It is shown that optical dispersion plays a central role in determining the sensitivity, and the dispersion may enhance or suppress sensitivity as well as change the sign of the resonant wavelength shifts. We propose a quality factor, $Q$, for characterizing LPGs.
We present a sensor capable of detecting solution-based nanoparticles using an optical fiber tip functionalized with a photonic crystal cavity. When sensor tips are retracted from a nanoparticle solution after being submerged, we find that a combination of convective fluid forces and optically-induced trapping cause an aggregation of nanoparticles to form directly on cavity surfaces. A simple readout of quantum dot photoluminescence coupled to the optical fiber shows that nanoparticle presence and concentration can be detected through modified cavity properties. Our sensor can detect both gold…
We propose and theoretically study a new hollow-core fiber-based curvature sensor with the capability of detecting both bending magnitude and angle (direction). The new sensor relies on a tubular-lattice fiber that encompasses, in its microstructure, tubes with three different thicknesses. By adequately choosing the placement of the tubes within the fiber cross-section, and by exploring the spectral shifts of the fiber transmitted spectrum due to the curvature-induced mode field distributions' displacements, we demonstrate a multi-axis bending sensor. In the proposed sensor, curvature radii an…
In this work, we present an analysis of the influence of the geometrical parameters on the sensitivity and linear range of the fiber optic angular displacement sensor, through computational simulations and experiments. The geometrical parameters analyzed were the lens focal length, the gap between fibers, the fibers cladding radii, the emitting fiber critical angle (or, equivalently, the emitting fiber numerical aperture), and the standoff distance (distance between the lens and the reflective surface). Besides, we analyzed the sensor sensitivity regarding any spurious linear displacement. The…
Even and odd vector modes in optical fibers are represented with linear combinations of orbital angular momentum modes, and considered as single-photon spin-orbit entangled states. It renders generating such states with fiber structures possible.
The development of highly-sensitive and miniaturized sensors that capable of real-time analytes detection is highly desirable. Nowadays, toxic or colorless gas detection, air pollution monitoring, harmful chemical, pressure, strain, humidity, and temperature sensors based on photonic crystal fiber (PCF) are increasing rapidly due to its compact structure, fast response and efficient light controlling capabilities. The propagating light through the PCF can be controlled by varying the structural parameters and core-cladding materials, as a result, evanescent field can be enhanced significantly …
The analysis of substances outside the cladding has challenged the optical fiber sensors community for decades. A common solution relies on the propagation of light in cladding modes. However, the coupling of light to/from these modes is typically based on permanent gratings in specific locations, which restrict the sensors to point measurements only. In this work, we present dynamic, random-access coupling of light between core and cladding modes of standard fibers, in arbitrarily located short sections. Coupling is based on the stimulation of Brillouin dynamic gratings by two coded pump wave…
We propose using THz frequency selective surfaces interrogated with THz subwavelength optical fibers as sensors for monitoring of the optical properties of thick films that are brought in contact with such surfaces. Changes in the test film thickness and absorption losses can be measured simultaneously by interpreting variations in the spectral resonant features in the fiber transmission and reflection spectra. Particularly, changes in the film thickness induce strong shifts in the fiber transmission peaks, while changes in the film absorption induce notable amplitude variations in the fiber r…
We have developed a conceptual design for an Active Fast Light Fiber Optic Sensor (AFLIFOS) that can perform simultaneously or separately as a gyroscope (differential mode effect) and a sensor for acceleration, strain, and other common mode effects. Two Brillouin lasers in opposite directions and separated in frequency by several free spectral ranges are used for this sensor. By coupling two auxiliary resonators to the primary fiber resonator, we produce superluminal effects for two laser modes. We develop a detailed theoretical model for optimizing the design of the AFLIFOS, and show that the…
We demonstrate a fiber Fabry-Perot (FFP) sensor capable of detecting sub-picostrain signals, from 100 Hz and extending beyond 100 kHz, using the Pound-Drever-Hall frequency locking technique. A low power diode laser at 1550 nm is locked to a free-space reference cavity to suppress its free-running frequency noise, thereby stabilizing the laser. The stabilized laser is then used to interrogate a FFP where the PDH error signal yields the instantaneous fiber strain.
In this work, we proposed a high resolution D-shaped photonic crystal fiber (PCF) surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor based on gold grating. Gold grating is introduced to modulate the resonance wavelength and enhance the refractive index (RI) sensitivity. Structure parameters of PCF and gold grating are analyzed by finite element method (FEM) for optimizing the SPR sensor. The simulation results indicate that air hole pitch, air hole diameter and gold thickness and grating constant have little influence on the sensitivity of refractive index, which reduces the requirement of precise process…
We present a mm-scale optical fiber strain sensor to continuously measure the food deformation below the surface during the drying process. The sensor has a soft buffer sleeve, which enables a large measurable deformation range and minimizes the influence on the native food deformation. The sensor performance was investigated both theoretically and experimentally. To demonstrate the application in foods, we embedded the sensor inside fresh banana slices during a 4-hour-long air-drying process, where its wet basis moisture contents dropped from around 80% to 40%. The fiber sensor measurements c…
We present an approximate analytic model that has been developed for examining hydrodynamic flow near the surface of a fiber optic sensor. An analysis of the conservation of momentum, the continuity equation and the Navier-Stokes equation for compressible flow was used to develop expressions for the velocity and the density as a function of the distance along the flow and above a two dimensional flat surface. When examining the flow near the surface, these expressions can be used to estimate the sensitivity required to perform direct optical measurements and to parameterize the shear force for…
Waveguide-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (WERS) is a promising technique for sensitive and selective detection of chemicals in a compact chip-scale platform. Coupling light on and off the sensor chip with fibers however presents challenges because of the fluorescence and Raman background generated by the pump light in the fibers; as a result all WERS demonstrations to date have used free-space coupling via lenses. We report a packaged, fiber-bonded WERS chip that filters the background on-chip through collection of the backscattered Raman light. The packaged sensor is integrated in a ruggedized f…
We demonstrate a fiber-optical switch that is activated at tiny energies corresponding to few hundred optical photons per pulse. This is achieved by simultaneously confining both photons and a small laser-cooled ensemble of atoms inside the microscopic hollow core of a single-mode photonic-crystal fiber and using quantum optical techniques for generating slow light propagation and large nonlinear interaction between light beams.
We demonstrate a spectrally broadband and effcient technique for collecting photoluminescence from a single InAs quantum dot directly into a standard single mode optical fiber. In this approach, an optical fiber taper waveguide is placed in contact with a suspended GaAs nanophotonic waveguide with embedded quantum dots, forming an effcient and broadband directional coupler with standard optical fiber input and output. Effcient photoluminescence collection over a wavelength range of tens of nanometers is demonstrated, and a maximum collection effciency of 6.05 % (corresponding single photon rat…
We demonstrate nanowatt-level saturated absorption using a sub-wavelength diameter tapered optical fiber (TOF) suspended in a gas of metastable xenon atoms. This ultralow-power nonlinearity is enabled by a small optical mode area propagating over a relatively long distance through the Xe gas. The use of inert noble gasses in these kinds of TOF experiments may offer practical advantages over the use of reactive alkali vapors such as rubidium.
We analyze a fiber-optic gyroscope design enhanced by the injection of quantum-optical squeezed vacuum into a fiber-based Sagnac interferometer. In the presence of fiber loss, we compute the maximum attainable enhancement over a classical, laser-driven fiber-optic gyroscope in terms of the angular velocity estimate variance from a homodyne measurement. We find a constant enhancement factor that depends on the degree of squeezing introduced into the system but has diminishing returns beyond $10$--$15$ dB of squeezing. Under a realistic constraint of fixed total fiber length, we show that segmen…
A bidirectional all polarization maintaining fiber laser as a highly sensitive sensor for rotation is presented. This sensor is based on intracavity phase interferometry with application in inertial sensing, magnetometry, displacements and nonlinear index. The bios beat note of this gyroscopic laser is lowered to 166 KHz implementing a symmetric configuration including two parts of Er-doped fibers.
We present a structural health monitoring system for nondestructive testing of composite materials based on the fiber Bragg grating sensors and specialized software solution. The developed structural monitoring system has potential applications for preliminary tests of novel composite materials as well as real-time structural health monitoring of industrial objects. The software solution realizes control for the system, data processing, and alert of an operator.
In this paper we present a label-free, stable and highly sensitive fiber-optic sensor for detection of environmental toxin microcystin-LR (MC-LR). Thiolated MC-LR-targeting aptamer covalently immobilized on dual-resonance long-period fiber gratings (DR-LPFG) is used as MC-LR recognition element and the spectral response of the DR-LPFG is monitored for various concentrations of MC-LR. Sensitivity of the DR-LPFG is optimized by coating an appropriate thickness of gold layer to the fiber surface. Gold coating serves two purposes, first it locally supports a surface-Plasmon mode associated with th…
Label-free biosensors are important tools for clinical diagnostics and for studying biology at the single molecule level. The development of optical label-free sensors has allowed extreme sensitivity, but can expose the biological sample to photodamage. Moreover, the fragility and complexity of these sensors can be prohibitive to applications. To overcome these problems, we develop a quantum noise limited exposed-core fiber sensor providing robust platform for label-free biosensing with a natural path toward microfluidic integration. We demonstrate the detection of single nanoparticles down to…
We present a method for remote interrogation of passive fiber Bragg grating Fabry-Perot resonators, employing current modulation of the diode laser source. With the presence of both RF amplitude and frequency modulation, it is a variant of the ultra-sensitive Pound-Drever-Hall laser frequency locking technique. We demonstrate that current modulation and interferometric demodulation removes the need for a phase modulator in the sensing architecture.
The paper is about de-noising procedures aimed on events recognition in signals from a distributed fiber-optic vibration sensor system based on the phase-sensitive optical time-domain reflectometry. We report experimental results on recognition of several classes of events in a seismic background. A de-noising procedure uses the framework of the time-series analysis and Kolmogorov-Zurbenko filtering. We demonstrate that this approach allows revealing signatures of several classes of events.
Parity-time (PT) symmetric optical sensors operating around exceptional points have recently gained much attraction, offering an unparalleled high sensitivity in measuring small perturbations. In the past, most of the PT-symmetric sensors have been based on tracking the mode-splitting that arises due to a perturbation-induced change in coupling strength between two subcavities of the PT-symmetric system. We design a linear fiber Fabry-Pérot and coupled cavities sensor, tailored to operate in the broken PT-symmetric region. We explore a new sensing metric-that is, the mode's linewidth change as…
Resolution investigation of multiplexed displacement sensors based on extrinsic fiber Fabry-Perot interferometers (EFPI) was carried out. The cases of serial and parallel configurations were considered, the analysis of the problems and the advantages of the both was performed. An analytical model, describing the resolution limits for the both configurations was developed. Serial and parallel multiplexing schemes have been experimentally implemented with 3 and 4 sensing elements, respectively. For the both configurations the achieved optical path difference (OPD) standard deviations were betwee…
We present a fiber-diffraction interferometer using a coherent fiber optic taper for optical testing in an uncontrolled environment. We use a coherent fiber optic taper and a single-mode fiber having thermally-expanded core. Part of the measurement wave coming from a test target is condensed through a fiber optic taper and spatially filtered from a single-mode fiber to be reference wave. Vibration of the cavity between the target and the interferometer probe is common to both reference and measurement waves, thus the interference fringe is stabilized in an optical way. Generation of the refere…
Geometrically modified fiber optic sensors (FOS), particularly U-bent FOS, have gained significant attention due to their remarkably high refractive index (RI) and evanescent wave absorbance (EWA) sensitivity, as well as their ergonomic design and ease in handling. In this study, we present a theoretical model for the U-bent FOS probes, to predict the sensor behavior by numerically simulating the light propagation in an equivalent 2D semi-circular ring using ray tracing approach. In addition to the effects due to the modification of geometry, this study presents a thorough investigation of the…
Three different types of Er doped photosensitive fibers, germanium/erbium (Ge/Er) fiber, tin/germanium/erbium fiber (Sn/Er) and antimony/germanium/erbium fiber (Sb/Er) have been manufactured and studied for use in optical sensor systems. Their characteristics of photosensitivity, the temperature sustainability of fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) written into these fibers and the fluorescence emission from the Er dopant were investigated and compared. It has been shown in this work that these fibers all show a satisfactory degree of photosensitivity to enable the fabrication of FBGs and a significan…
Liquid phase sensing applications at 1550~nm are highly desirable due to widely available off-the-shelf components. Generally, liquids at 1550~nm induce a high absorption loss that limits the overall sensor's sensitivity and detection limit. One solution is to use an active fiber loop in conjunction with cavity ring down spectroscopy to overcome these absorption losses. However, the amplifier inside the fiber loop suffers from inherent gain fluctuations that limit the sensing system's overall performance. Here, we provide a novel sensor using the wavelength-scanned phase shift-cavity ring down…
Lab-on-a-Chip (LoC) devices combining microfluidic analyte provision with integrated optical analysis are highly desirable for several applications in biological oder medical sciences. While the microfluidic approach is already broadly adressed, yet some work needs to be done regarding the integrated optics, especially provision of highly integrable laser sources. Polymer optical fiber (POF) lasers represent an alignment-free, rugged and flexible technology platform. Additionally, POFs are intrinsically compatible to polymer microfluidic devices. Home-made Rhodamine B (RB) doped POFs were char…
The 3D nano-structuring on the <10nm scale allows the refractive index of functional sensory materials(n>2) to be reduced and matched with the cladding of optical fiber(n~1.46) for low-loss integration. A high temperature capable hydrogen sensor composed of D-shaped optical fiber with palladium nanoparticles infused nanoporous (~5nm) TiO2 film is demonstrated. The behavior of the developed sensor was characterized by examining the wavelength of an incorporated Fiber Bragg Grating and by observing the transmission losses at temperatures up to 700C. In addition, with frequency domain reflectomet…
We describe an all-fiber nonlinear interferometer based on four-wave mixing in highly nonlinear fiber. Our configuration realizes phase-sensitive interference with 97% peak visibility and >90% visibility over a broad 554 GHz optical band. By comparing the output noise power to the shot-noise level, we confirm noise cancellation at dark interference fringes, as required for quantum-enhanced sensitivity. Our device extends nonlinear interferometry to the important platform of highly nonlinear optical fiber, and could find application in a variety of fiber-based sensors.
A nonlinear quantum-optical process is considered: emission of photon pairs by the reflecting end of a fiber excited by a standing laser wave. Radiation occurs due to periodic changes in the optical length of the fiber over time. This radiation can be significantly enhanced in long fibers. Because of this enhancement, a nonperturbative description of the process is required. Such a description presented here predicts a strong peak of radiation, if the amplitude of the oscillations of the optical length coincides with half of the laser wavelength. The considered phenomenon can be used to create…
We describe a fiber optical gyroscope based on the Sagnac effect realized on a multiplexed telecom fiber network. Our loop encloses an area of 20 km^2 and coexists with Internet data traffic. This Sagnac interferometer achieves a sensitivity of about 1e-8 (rad/s)/sqrt(Hz), thus approaching ring laser gyroscopes without using narrow-linewidth laser nor sophisticated optics. The proposed gyroscope is sensitive enough for seismic applications, opening new possibilities for this kind of optical fiber sensors
A strain-insensitive temperature sensor based on multimode interference using standard multimode fibers (MMFs) is proposed according to the comprehensive study of the characteristics of the MMFs. The temperature and strain dependences on the core diameter, numerical aperture (NA), and the length of the MMF section in the single-mode--multimode--single-mode (SMS) fiber structure are investigated experimentally. The results indicate that the larger core diameter of the MMF leads to higher temperature sensitivity but lower strain sensitivity (absolute values); the higher NA does not influence the…
Whispering-gallery mode (WGM) resonators combine small optical mode volumes with narrow resonance linewidths, making them exciting platforms for a variety of applications. Here we report a flying WGM microlaser, realized by optically trapping a dye-doped microparticle within a liquid-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber (HC-PCF) using a CW laser and then pumping it with a pulsed excitation laser whose wavelength matches the absorption band of the dye. The laser emits into core-guided modes that can be detected at the endfaces of the HC-PCF. Using radiation forces, the microlaser can be fr…
