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Advanced Fiber Photonic Devices and Sensors

A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220). This special issue belongs to the section "Optical Sensors".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 29075

Special Issue Editors

Department of Optical Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai 200433, China
Interests: photonic crystal fibers devices; advanced optical fiber manufacturing technology; fiber-based optofluidics; fiber sensors; all-fiber devices and laser technology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Associate Professor, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
Interests: optics; photonics; astrophotonics and space photonics; spectroscopy; astronomical instrumentation; optical fibers and optical fiber devices
University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
Interests: optofluidics; optical fibers; hollow-core photonic crystal fibers

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Structured optical fibers such as photonic crystal fibers, multicore fibers, and microfibers have attracted intense interest and have been widely used in lasers, telecommunications, and sensing applications. The structural freedom of these types of specialty optical fibers opens up new sensing applications. The development of advanced fiber photonic devices and technologies is key to supporting their potential industrial applications.
This Special Issue is addressed but not limited to the topics below. Original papers, letters and reviews are all welcome.

  •  Interconnects of specialty optical fibers;
  •  Coupling mechanism and devices of structured optical fibers;
  •  Polarization devices of structured optical fibers;
  •  Photonic crystal fiber sensors;
  •  Optical microfiber sensors;
  •  Multicore fiber sensors;
  •  Fiber-based Internet of Things.

Prof. Dr. Limin Xiao
Dr. Sergio G. Leon-Saval
Dr. Tijmen G. Euser
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • photonic crystal fiber devices
  • microfiber devices
  • multicore fiber-based devices
  • specialty fiber sensors
  • fiber-based optofluidic sensors
  • hybrid fiber sensors
  • hollow-core fiber sensors

Published Papers (12 papers)

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11 pages, 4856 KiB  
Article
Hollow Core Bragg Fiber-Based Sensor for Simultaneous Measurement of Curvature and Temperature
by Zongru Yang, Weihao Yuan and Changyuan Yu
Sensors 2021, 21(23), 7956; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21237956 - 29 Nov 2021
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 2361
Abstract
In this paper, the hollow core Bragg fiber (HCBF)-based sensor based on anti-resonant reflecting optical waveguide (ARROW) model is proposed and experimentally demonstrated for simultaneous measurement of curvature and temperature by simply sandwiching a segment of HCBF within two single-mode fibers (SMFs). The [...] Read more.
In this paper, the hollow core Bragg fiber (HCBF)-based sensor based on anti-resonant reflecting optical waveguide (ARROW) model is proposed and experimentally demonstrated for simultaneous measurement of curvature and temperature by simply sandwiching a segment of HCBF within two single-mode fibers (SMFs). The special construction of a four-bilayer Bragg structure provides a well-defined periodic interference envelope in the transmission spectrum for sensing external perturbations. Owing to different sensitivities of interference dips, the proposed HCBF-based sensor is capable of dual-parameter detection by monitoring the wavelength shift. The highest curvature sensitivity of the proposed sensor is measured to be 74.4 pm/m−1 in the range of 1.1859–2.9047 m−1 with the adjusted R square value of 0.9804. In the meanwhile, the best sensitivity of temperature sensing was detected to be 16.8 pm/°C with the linearity of 0.997 with temperature range varying from 25 to 55 °C. Furthermore, with the aid of the 2 × 2 matrix, the dual demodulation of curvature and temperature can be carried out to realize the simultaneous measurement of these two parameters. Besides dual-parameter sensing based on wavelength shift, the proposed sensor can also measure temperature-insensitive curvature by demodulating the intensity of resonant dips. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Fiber Photonic Devices and Sensors)
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10 pages, 4523 KiB  
Communication
Line Position-Dependent Effect in Line-by-Line Inscribed Fiber Bragg Gratings
by Hongye Li, Xiaofan Zhao, Binyu Rao, Meng Wang, Baiyi Wu and Zefeng Wang
Sensors 2021, 21(21), 7231; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21217231 - 30 Oct 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1755
Abstract
Line-by-line direct writing by femtosecond laser has been proved to be a simple and effective method for the fabrication of low-loss fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs), and is more flexible compared with the traditional ultraviolet exposure method. In this paper, the line-position-dependent characteristics of [...] Read more.
Line-by-line direct writing by femtosecond laser has been proved to be a simple and effective method for the fabrication of low-loss fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs), and is more flexible compared with the traditional ultraviolet exposure method. In this paper, the line-position-dependent characteristics of cladding modes coupling in line-by-line FBGs have been studied, to the best of our knowledge, for the first time. Both theoretical and experimental results show that off-center inscribing could compress the bandwidth of the Bragg resonance and excite more abundant cladding mode coupling, in which the core-guided fundamental mode would couple to the cladding-guided LP0n and LP1n simultaneously. By aligning the line positions across the core region, the first apodized line-by-line FBG was achieved. This work enriches the theories of line-by-line FBGs and provides an inscription guidance to meet different application requirements. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Fiber Photonic Devices and Sensors)
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12 pages, 6447 KiB  
Communication
Wavelength-Tunable L-Band High Repetition Rate Erbium-Doped Fiber Laser Based on Dissipative Four-Wave Mixing
by Kai Li, Qianqian Huang, Junjie Jiang, Zinan Huang and Chengbo Mou
Sensors 2021, 21(17), 5975; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21175975 - 06 Sep 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2265
Abstract
A wavelength-tunable high repetition rate (HRR) erbium-doped fiber laser in L-band based on dissipative four-wave mixing (DFWM) mechanism is demonstrated. The cavity can generate a single-soliton train and bound-soliton train with a fixed repetition rate of ~126 GHz, which is determined by the [...] Read more.
A wavelength-tunable high repetition rate (HRR) erbium-doped fiber laser in L-band based on dissipative four-wave mixing (DFWM) mechanism is demonstrated. The cavity can generate a single-soliton train and bound-soliton train with a fixed repetition rate of ~126 GHz, which is determined by the free spectral range of the intra-cavity Lyot filter. A wide wavelength-tuning operation can also be obtained by rotating the polarization controllers. The wavelength-tuning ranges of the HRR single-soliton state and HRR bound-soliton state are ~38.3 nm and ~22.6 nm, respectively. This laser provides useful references for the area of a wavelength-tunable fiber laser with high repetition rate. The laser may also find useful applications in high-speed communication, sensing, etc. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Fiber Photonic Devices and Sensors)
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8 pages, 6629 KiB  
Communication
External Modulation Optical Coherent Domain Reflectometry with Long Measurement Range
by Yinghong Xue, Yueping Niu and Shangqing Gong
Sensors 2021, 21(16), 5510; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21165510 - 16 Aug 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1752
Abstract
Optical coherent domain reflectometry (OCDR) can achieve a high spatial resolution that is independent of the bandwidth of the receiver, but the measurement range is usually very limited. Here we propose an external modulation OCDR system, in which a pair of linear frequency-modulated [...] Read more.
Optical coherent domain reflectometry (OCDR) can achieve a high spatial resolution that is independent of the bandwidth of the receiver, but the measurement range is usually very limited. Here we propose an external modulation OCDR system, in which a pair of linear frequency-modulated pulses generated by one modulator are employed as the probe pulse and the reference, respectively. The spatial resolution is determined by the frequency modulation range of the pulse, and the measurement speed is boosted by orders because the proposed technology can simultaneously diagnose a section of fiber with each pair of pulses, while only a single point can be accessed at a time in typical OCDR. In the demonstrational experiment, a measurement range of up to 50 km is achieved with a spatial resolution of 1.4 m and a measuring time of less than 30 s. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Fiber Photonic Devices and Sensors)
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8 pages, 21968 KiB  
Communication
Ultra-Highly Sensitive Ammonia Detection Based on Light-Induced Thermoelastic Spectroscopy
by Yao Mi and Yufei Ma
Sensors 2021, 21(13), 4548; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21134548 - 02 Jul 2021
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 1887
Abstract
This invited paper demonstrated an ultra-highly sensitive ammonia (NH3) sensor based on the light-induced thermoelastic spectroscopy (LITES) technique for the first time. A quartz tuning fork (QTF) with a resonance frequency of 32.768 kHz was employed as a detector. A fiber-coupled, [...] Read more.
This invited paper demonstrated an ultra-highly sensitive ammonia (NH3) sensor based on the light-induced thermoelastic spectroscopy (LITES) technique for the first time. A quartz tuning fork (QTF) with a resonance frequency of 32.768 kHz was employed as a detector. A fiber-coupled, continuous wave (CW), distributed feedback (DFB) diode laser emitting at 1530.33 nm was chosen as the excitation source. Wavelength modulation spectroscopy (WMS) and second-harmonic (2f) detection techniques were applied to reduce the background noise. In a one scan period, a 2f signal of the two absorption lines located at 6534.6 cm−1 and 6533.4 cm−1 were acquired simultaneously. The 2f signal amplitude at the two absorption lines was proved to be proportional to the concentration, respectively, by changing the concentration of NH3 in the analyte. The calculated R-square values of the linear fit are equal to ~0.99. The wavelength modulation depth was optimized to be 13.38 mA, and a minimum detection limit (MDL) of ~5.85 ppm was achieved for the reported NH3 sensor. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Fiber Photonic Devices and Sensors)
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10 pages, 5432 KiB  
Communication
Spectral Characteristics of Square-Wave-Modulated Type II Long-Period Fiber Gratings Inscribed by a Femtosecond Laser
by Xiaofan Zhao, Hongye Li, Binyu Rao, Meng Wang, Baiyi Wu and Zefeng Wang
Sensors 2021, 21(9), 3278; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21093278 - 10 May 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1910
Abstract
We study here the spectral characteristics of square-wave-modulated type II long-period fiber gratings (LPFGs) inscribed by a femtosecond laser. Both theoretical and experimental results indicate that higher-order harmonics refractive index (RI) modulation commonly exists together with the fundamental harmonic RI modulation in such [...] Read more.
We study here the spectral characteristics of square-wave-modulated type II long-period fiber gratings (LPFGs) inscribed by a femtosecond laser. Both theoretical and experimental results indicate that higher-order harmonics refractive index (RI) modulation commonly exists together with the fundamental harmonic RI modulation in such LPFGs, and the duty cycle of a square wave has a great influence on the number and amplitudes of higher-order harmonics. A linear increase in the duty cycle in a series of square wave pulses will induce another LPFG with a minor difference in periods, which is useful for expanding the bandwidth of LPFGs. We also propose a method to reduce insertion loss by fabricating type II LPFGs without higher-order harmonic resonances. This work intensifies our comprehension of type II fiber gratings with which novel optical fiber sensors can be fabricated. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Fiber Photonic Devices and Sensors)
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13 pages, 1974 KiB  
Article
Refractive Index Sensors Based on Long-Period Grating in a Negative Curvature Hollow-Core Fiber
by Hanna Izabela Stawska and Maciej Andrzej Popenda
Sensors 2021, 21(5), 1803; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21051803 - 05 Mar 2021
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2233
Abstract
Long-period optical fiber gratings (LPGs) are one of the widely used concepts for the sensing of refractive index (RI) changes. Negative curvature hollow-core fibers (NCHCFs), with their relatively large internal diameters that are easy to fill with liquids, appear as a very interesting [...] Read more.
Long-period optical fiber gratings (LPGs) are one of the widely used concepts for the sensing of refractive index (RI) changes. Negative curvature hollow-core fibers (NCHCFs), with their relatively large internal diameters that are easy to fill with liquids, appear as a very interesting medium to combine with the idea of LPGs and use for RI sensing. However, to date, there has been no investigation of the RI sensing capabilities of the NCHCF-based LPGs. The results presented in the paper do not only address this matter, but also compare the RI sensitivities of the NCHCFs alone and the gratings. By modeling two revolver-type fibers, with their internal diameters reflecting the results of the possible LPG-inscription process, the authors show that the fibers’ transmission windows shift in response to the RI change, resulting in changes in RI sensitivities as high as −4411 nm/RIU. On the contrary, the shift in the transmission dip of the NCHCF-based LPGs corresponds to a sensitivity of −658 nm/RIU. A general confirmation of these results was ensured by comparing the analytical formulas describing the sensitivities of the NCHCFs and the NCHCF-based LPGs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Fiber Photonic Devices and Sensors)
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15 pages, 82803 KiB  
Article
A Novel Gold Film-Coated V-Shape Dual-Core Photonic Crystal Fiber Polarization Beam Splitter Covering the E + S + C + L + U Band
by Yuwei Qu, Jinhui Yuan, Shi Qiu, Xian Zhou, Feng Li, Binbin Yan, Qiang Wu, Kuiru Wang, Xinzhu Sang, Keping Long and Chongxiu Yu
Sensors 2021, 21(2), 496; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21020496 - 12 Jan 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2188
Abstract
In this paper, a novel gold film-coated V-shape dual-core photonic crystal fiber (V-DC-PCF) polarization beam splitter (PBS) based on surface plasmon resonance effect is proposed. The coupling lengths of the X-polarization (X-pol) and Y-polarization (Y-pol) and the corresponding coupling length ratio of the [...] Read more.
In this paper, a novel gold film-coated V-shape dual-core photonic crystal fiber (V-DC-PCF) polarization beam splitter (PBS) based on surface plasmon resonance effect is proposed. The coupling lengths of the X-polarization (X-pol) and Y-polarization (Y-pol) and the corresponding coupling length ratio of the proposed V-DC-PCF PBS without gold film and with gold film are compared. The fiber structure parameters and thickness of the gold film are optimized through investigating their effects on the coupling lengths and coupling length ratio. As the propagation length increases, the normalized output powers of the X-pol and Y-pol of the proposed V-DC-PCF PBS at the three wavelengths 1.610, 1.631, and 1.650 μm are demonstrated. The relationships between the extinction ratio (ER), insertion loss (IL) and wavelength for the three splitting lengths (SLs) 188, 185, and 182 μm are investigated. Finally, it is demonstrated that for the proposed V-DC-PCF PBS, the optimal SL is 188 μm, the ILs of the X-pol and Y-pol are less than 0.22 dB, and the splitting bandwidth (SB) can cover the E + S + C + L + U band. The proposed V-DC-PCF PBS has the ultra-short SL, ultra-wide SB, and ultra-low IL, so it is expected to have important applications in the laser, sensing, and dense wavelength division multiplexing systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Fiber Photonic Devices and Sensors)
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13 pages, 4975 KiB  
Article
Hollow-Core Negative Curvature Fiber with High Birefringence for Low Refractive Index Sensing Based on Surface Plasmon Resonance Effect
by Shi Qiu, Jinhui Yuan, Xian Zhou, Feng Li, Qiwei Wang, Yuwei Qu, Binbin Yan, Qiang Wu, Kuiru Wang, Xinzhu Sang, Keping Long and Chongxiu Yu
Sensors 2020, 20(22), 6539; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20226539 - 16 Nov 2020
Cited by 28 | Viewed by 2831
Abstract
In this paper, a hollow-core negative curvature fiber (HC-NCF) with high birefringence is proposed for low refractive index (RI) sensing based on surface plasmon resonance effect. In the design, the cladding region of the HC-NCF is composed of only one ring of eight [...] Read more.
In this paper, a hollow-core negative curvature fiber (HC-NCF) with high birefringence is proposed for low refractive index (RI) sensing based on surface plasmon resonance effect. In the design, the cladding region of the HC-NCF is composed of only one ring of eight silica tubes, and two of them are selectively filled with the gold wires. The influences of the gold wires-filled HC-NCF structure parameters on the propagation characteristic are investigated by the finite element method. Moreover, the sensing performances in the low RI range of 1.20–1.34 are evaluated by the traditional confinement loss method and novel birefringence analysis method, respectively. The simulation results show that for the confinement loss method, the obtained maximum sensitivity, resolution, and figure of merit of the gold wires-filled HC-NCF-based sensor are −5700 nm/RIU, 2.63 × 10−5 RIU, and 317 RIU−1, respectively. For the birefringence analysis method, the obtained maximum sensitivity, resolution, and birefringence of the gold wires-filled HC-NCF-based sensor are −6100 nm/RIU, 2.56 × 10−5 RIU, and 1.72 × 10−3, respectively. It is believed that the proposed gold wires-filled HC-NCF-based low RI sensor has important applications in the fields of biochemistry and medicine. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Fiber Photonic Devices and Sensors)
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13 pages, 2539 KiB  
Article
Highly Sensitive Localized Surface Plasmon Polariton Based D-Type Twin-Hole Photonic Crystal Fiber Microbiosensor: Enhanced Scheme for SERS Reinforcement
by Manthangal Sivanesan Aruna Gandhi, Krishnamoorthy Senthilnathan, Padmanabhan Ramesh Babu and Qian Li
Sensors 2020, 20(18), 5248; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20185248 - 14 Sep 2020
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3600
Abstract
The emerging development of sensing technology initiates innovative sensors achieving low-cost to facilitate practical realization. An interesting crush of the work is to propose a simple structural sensor and to analyze the different schemes of the metal coating by stimulated emission of Raman [...] Read more.
The emerging development of sensing technology initiates innovative sensors achieving low-cost to facilitate practical realization. An interesting crush of the work is to propose a simple structural sensor and to analyze the different schemes of the metal coating by stimulated emission of Raman scattering (SERS) intensification. For the first time, we propose a simple geometrical photonic crystal fiber refractive index based sensor (PCF-RIBS) with three different Schemes A, B, and C, i.e., gold (A) layer-coated surface plasmon resonance (SPR) based D-type PCF-RIBS; Au with titanium-di-oxide (TiO2) layer-coated SPR D-type PCF-RIBS; and Au + TiO2 grating-coated localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) D-type PCF-RIBS. Characterizing the three different Schemes A, B, and C using finite element method simulation shows, a maximum wavelength sensitivity of 48,000 nm/RIU, 52,000 nm/RIU and 75,000 nm/RIU, respectively, for a wide range of analyte-refractive index from 1.33 to 1.45 and operates in the wavelength range from 500–2000 nm. Of all the Schemes, Scheme C is found to excite a relatively larger number of surface-plasmons. Eventually, it exhibits improved sensing performances compared to SPR based Schemes A and B. Consequently, it would turn out to be an appropriate candidate to detect a broad range of biological and chemical sample detection. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Fiber Photonic Devices and Sensors)
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13 pages, 4399 KiB  
Letter
An Optical Fiber Sensor Based on Fluorescence Lifetime for the Determination of Sulfate Ions
by Liyun Ding, Panfeng Gong, Bing Xu and Qingjun Ding
Sensors 2021, 21(3), 954; https://doi.org/10.3390/s21030954 - 01 Feb 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3313
Abstract
A new optical fiber sensor based on the fluorescence lifetime was prepared for specific detection of sulfate ion concentration, where 1,1′-(anthracene-9,10-diylbis(methylene))bis(3-(dodecylcarbamoyl)pyridin-1-ium) acted as the sulfate fluorescent probe. The probe was immobilized in a porous cellulose acetate membrane to form the sensitive membrane by [...] Read more.
A new optical fiber sensor based on the fluorescence lifetime was prepared for specific detection of sulfate ion concentration, where 1,1′-(anthracene-9,10-diylbis(methylene))bis(3-(dodecylcarbamoyl)pyridin-1-ium) acted as the sulfate fluorescent probe. The probe was immobilized in a porous cellulose acetate membrane to form the sensitive membrane by the immersion precipitation method, and polyethylene glycol 400 acted as a porogen. The sensing principle was proven, as a sulfate ion could form a complex with the probe through a hydrogen bond, which led to structural changes and fluorescence for the probe. The signals of the fluorescence lifetime data were collected by the lock-in amplifier and converted into the phase delay to realize the detection of sulfate ions. Based on the phase-modulated fluorometry, the relationship between the phase delay of the probe and the sulfate ion concentration was described in the range from 2 to 10 mM. The specificity and response time of this optical fiber sensor were also researched. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Fiber Photonic Devices and Sensors)
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10 pages, 4548 KiB  
Letter
Sensitivity Characterization of Cascaded Long-Period Gratings Operating near the Phase-Matching Turning Point
by Wei Zhou, Yanli Ran, Zhijun Yan, Qizhen Sun, Chen Liu and Deming Liu
Sensors 2020, 20(21), 5978; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20215978 - 22 Oct 2020
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1813
Abstract
We characterized a cascaded long-period gratings (LPGs)-based sensor that was operating at the phase-matching turning point (PMTP). The cascaded LPGs constructed an in-fiber Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI), which exhibited a series of high-quality-factor (Q) narrow-bandwidth resonance peaks. As the LPG operated at [...] Read more.
We characterized a cascaded long-period gratings (LPGs)-based sensor that was operating at the phase-matching turning point (PMTP). The cascaded LPGs constructed an in-fiber Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI), which exhibited a series of high-quality-factor (Q) narrow-bandwidth resonance peaks. As the LPG operated at the PMTP, the proposed sensor showed an ultrahigh refractive index (RI) and temperature sensitivity, and high measurement precision. In this study, we took an in-depth look at the effects of grating separation on Q-factor and sensitivity. The results showed that the sensitivity to the surrounding refractive index (SRI) reached 4741.5 nm/RIU at 1.4255 and 2138 nm/RIU, over the range of 1.335–1.373. In addition, the temperature sensitivity was around 4.84 nm/°C. With a 0.02 nm wavelength resolution, the RI and temperature sensing limits were 9.3 × 10−6 RIU and 5.5 × 10−3 °C. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Fiber Photonic Devices and Sensors)
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