Photonic crystal fiber refractive index sensor based on surface plasmon resonance

Jiahua Chena, Daniel Brabanta, Wojtek J. Bocka, Predrag Mikulica, and Tinko Eftimovb Centre de recherche en Photonique, Dpartement d'informatique et d'ingnierie, Universit du Qubec en Outaouais, P.O. Box 1250, Gatineau, Qubec, J8X 3X7 Canada b Department of Experimental Physics, Faculty of Physics, Plovdiv University, Plovdiv 4000, Bulgaria
ABSTRACT

This paper presents a photonic crystal fiber (PCF) refractive index sensor. The sensor structure is quite simple. It is composed of three segments of optical fibers spliced together. The multimode fibers with core diameter of 50 m are used for light input and output. The middle fiber is a short segment of PCF, ESM-12-01. Although it has some advantages such as being able to operate in single mode for a large number of light wavelengths and has great temperature stability, it also has a common drawback of the PCFs, that is, the tiny holes will collapse when they are spliced. This paper makes use of this drawback to facilitate the generation of the surface plasmon resonance. The spliced region of a PCF actually becomes a thin silica rod that is no longer a PCF or a traditional optical fiber. For this reason once the light travels into this region it diverts in all possible directions. Thus, the splice acts as a mode converter that converts the core modes of the multimode fiber into a set of the modes spreading into the PCF cladding. Among those modes some are suitable for SPR excitation. The width and the depth of the output spectrum dip depend on the length of the sensing part and the thickness and uniformity of the gold coating, and hence these parameters affect the properties of the sensor. The developed sensor is compact in size, simple to fabricate, promising in performance, and has a potential for practical applications. Keywords: Photonic crystal fiber, Refractive index sensor, Surface plasmon resonance

1. INTRODUCTION
A surface plasmon wave (SPW) or surface plasmon resonance (SPR) has drawn a lot of attention since the 80s of the last century and both bulk devices [1] and optical fiber sensors [2] [3][4][5] based on this phenomenon have been studied and developed since then. This situation is well reflected in some review articles [6][7]. In the SPR-based fiber optic sensors both single mode [2][5][8] and multimode fibers [9][10] were used. The metal coatings surrounding the fibers are usually not uniform if no fiber rotating device in the coating chamber is typically applied to rotate the fiber continuously during the coating process. The thickness of the metal coating affects the shape of the output spectrum: a coating too thick leads to the output spectrum dip being too shallow, and if the coating is too thin the dip is too wide [8]. So there exists a specific range of thicknesses for the surrounding metal to optimize the depth and the width of the output dip, and this feature may determine the sensitivity of the SPR device. For some applications the gold coating can only cover a part of the surface of a fiber cladding [11]. The fiber grating structures are also being proposed for the SPR devices [12][13]. Among all these devices the sensing segment of a single mode fiber seems to be the simplest and the most compact one. Photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) have some advantages over the traditional fibers, for example, a low temperature effect and a wide range of wavelengths for single mode operation. But the major disadvantage of the PCF is that its tiny holes will collapse during the splicing process and will become a thin rod of silica that no longer acts as a fiber, and thus causes a high loss. However, we show that this kind of a splice can be used to generate some high order modes that are needed for SPR excitation. The Crystal Fibre ESM-12-01 is used in this paper to fabricate the SPR sensors to measure the change of the refractive index of a liquid. This kind of a structure may have even more potential applications if the surrounding material is properly modified.

2. SENSOR STRUCTURE AND FABRICATION

The sensor consists of three segments of optical fibers spliced one after another as shown in Figure 1. The segments A and C are multimode fibers with core and cladding diameters of 50 and 125 m respectively, and the segment B is the
Photonics North 2010, edited by Henry P. Schriemer, Rafael N. Kleiman, Proc. of SPIE Vol. 7750, 77502K 2010 SPIE CCC code: 0277-786X/10/$18 doi: 10.1117/12.872873

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endlessly single-mode PCF Crystal Fibre ESM-12-01 for the wavelength of 1550 nm. The fiber jacket of the segment B was stripped and its cladding surface is covered with a gold layer that was coated in a vacuum chamber at an air pressure of 10-7 torr. After depositing a gold layer on one half of the PCF segment it was rotated by 180 degrees to coat the other half. The gold coating surrounding the cladding surface is not uniform because the fiber was not continuously rotated during the coating process. The maximum thickness of the gold layer is estimated to be about 30 nm. The gold layer coated with this procedure can easily be damaged which may affect the measurement results.

B
Gold Coating

Figure 1. Sensor structure. A and C: multimode fiber; B: PCF.

3. SENSING PRINCIPLES
In Figure 2 the segment A is a piece of multimode fiber with core diameter 50 microns. The light traveling in the segment A is confined in the core and the corresponding modes are core modes. The fiber segment B is a single mode PCF fiber at wavelength of 1550 nm. The core diameter is 12 m, so it is much smaller than that of the leading fiber. Once the light traveling in the segment A enters into the segment B only a very small part of it becomes the guided core modes of the PCF, while the most of the light is transformed into the cladding modes of the PCF. Some of these will be totally internally reflected by the cladding surface and will eventually enter into the core of the fiber segment C, and will become its core modes. The three modes are marked with the numbers 1, 2, and 3 and are shown in Figure 2 to better illustrate this situation.

Cladding modes Jacket Core mode A

1

SPR MMF core B

3

Liquid

K0 I0 I

C EL Gold PCF

MMF cladding

PCF cladding

MMF cladding

MMF core PCF core Material SPR

Jacket Core mode Gold Coating Tiny hole collapsing region

Figure 2. Light transmission in three segments of optical fibers and the excited SPR. I0: Modified Bessel function of the first kind; K0: Modified Bessel function of the second kind; r: Radius; I: Light intensity; EL: Evanescent Light.

An electromagnetic wave can be confined near the boundary region of two different materials and can propagate along this boundary if one of the materials causes some loss, for example, if it is a layer of gold. The middle part of Figure 2 depicts such a case. The totally internally reflected light in the segment B produces evanescent light field in the layer of gold and near the gold-cladding boundary, as shown in the inset of Figure 2. If an appropriate material covers the gold layer the evanescent light field will interact with the free electrons and will generate the SPR propagating along the goldmaterial boundary as shown in Fig. 2. The coupling between the SPR and the evanescent light field in the gold layer, or the cladding mode in the segment B, can occur if:

M = Re{ s }

(1)

where M and S are the propagation constants of the cladding mode and the SPR respectively [14]. The generation of the SPR will cause the loss of the input light intensity and hence will cause a dip in the output spectrum of the segment C.

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The shape of the output spectrum usually is a function of the permeability or the refractive index of the cover material and this becomes the principle of the SPR sensors of refractive index. In principle the propagation constant of the SPR can be obtained as follows. Assume the electric and magnetic fields as: v E = [ E t (r , ) + i z E z (r , )]e it z , (2)
v H = [ H t (r , ) + i z H z (r , )]e it z , (3) v where r and stand for radius and azimuth, and i z is the unit vector along the z direction. The longitudinal component Ez and Hz can be obtained by solving the following equation:

t2 E z + ( 2 + 2 ) E z = 0 .

(4)

From the waveguide theory Ez takes the form:

E z = R (r )e im .

(5)

If is an imagery number and can be written as:

= ih
where h is a positive number, the solution is
E z = [CI m ( h 2 2 r ) + DK m ( h 2 2 r )]e im e hz

(6)

(7)

where C and D are constants and Im and Km are modified Bessel functions of the first and the second kinds. To ensure the electro-magnetic wave is localized near the boundary in the gold layer (layer 2) only Im is allowed and in the outer liquid (layer 1) only Km is allowed. The magnetic component Hz takes the similar form to Ez. Once the longitudinal components are obtained the transverse components can be calculated from the formulas:

Et =
Ht =

2 + 2
1

v ( t E z + ii z t H z )
v ( t H z ii z t E z ) .

(8)

(9)

For simplicity let us consider the TM modes in which there is no longitudinal component of the magnetic field. The longitudinal component of the magnetic field and the transverse components of the electric field should be continuous at the boundary. Applying Ez and Ht in both layers we get:
AK m ( h 2 2 1 1 R) = BI m ( h 2 2 2 2 R ) ,
v m v K m 1 K m +1 )= A(i r I m h 2 2 1 1 R + i i h 2 2 1 1 2 R 1 1 h , v m v K m 1 K m +1 2 2 2 2 2 ) B (i r I m h 2 2 R + i i h 2 2 2 R 2 2 2 h 2
2 2

(10)

(11)

v v where i r and i are the unit vectors along the radius and angular directions respectively. If m is not zero, it can be

deduced from (10) and (11) that h is zero. This implies that in such case there is no surface wave bound to the boundary region. So for SPR of the TM mode to exist the integer m must be zero. Using the relations between the modified Bessel functions of the first and the second kinds K 1 = K1 and I 1 = I1 , from equations (10) in (11) we can find the propagation constant

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h=

r1 r 2 r1 + r 2

(12)

where c is the speed of light in vacuum. In the process of obtaining the formula (12) the following relations were used: = 0 r , = 0 r , r = 1 and 0 0 = 1 /(c 2 ) . The formula (12) is of the same form as the one obtained from planar layers. This is no surprise as the planar structure is only a special case when the radius of a cylindrical structure approaches infinity. Now it is proved that the lowest order of the TM mode of the electro-magnetic wave can exist near the cylindrical border region and can propagate along the boundary. The SPR shape is of the 0th order of the modified Bessel function of the first kind in the gold layer, and the 0th order of the modified Bessel function of the second kind in the surrounding liquid. The propagation constant is determined by the formula (12).

4. MEASUREMENT SET-UP AND RESULTS

4.1 Measurement set-up

The measurement set-up is shown in Figure 3 in which LS is a broadband light source with an output multimode fiber of core diameter of 50 m. The optical spectrum analyzer (OSA) is an Ocean Optics USB2000 in which a USB port is designed as an interface. The output signal of the OSA is inputted into a computer through a USB cable for processing and the spectrum of the signal is displayed on the screen.

LS

DUT

OSA CPT

Figure 3. LS: Mikropack DH-2000 UV-VIS-NIR light source; DUT: device under test; OSA: optical spectrum analyzer; CPT: computer.
4.2 Measurement results

Three sensors of different lengths of the segment B were fabricated and tested. The test procedure was as follows: first expose the sensing part B of the sensor to air and use the computer shown in Figure 3 and the provided software to record the output spectrum Sair; then dip the sensing part B into a distilled water and record the output spectrum Swater; finally calculate the output ratio Swater to Sair. The calculation results are shown in Figure 4.
1.2 1 Output (%) 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 Wavelength (nm) 2 1 3

Figure 4. Output spectrum of three sensors of different sensing lengths: 1) 10 mm; 2) 20 mm; 3) 50 mm.

It can be easily seen from Figure 4 that the shape, depth, and width of the dip vary with the fiber length of the segment B for the same thickness of gold coating. Curve 3 has the deepest minimum but it is the widest. The shape of the curve 1 seems to be the best. So for the next series of experiments this structure was a natural choice. Some different percentages of glycerine solutions were made to get different refractive indices by diluting the glycerine in distilled water. Only the 0 and 100 percentages of glycerine are exact while the others are approximate. This will not affect the measurement results because the aim of the experiment was to measure the sensitivity of the sensor to the refractive indices and not to the glycerine percentages of the solutions. The measurement procedure is the same as that described before. After every

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measurement with glycerine solution, the fiber segment B had to be rinsed thoroughly with distilled water to ensure that there was no residual glycerine left on it. Any distilled water left on the fiber segment B would cause a significant error. After these strict treatments the output signal displayed on the screen should be restored to its original level and shape. If not another treatment is necessary. The measurement results with glycerine solution percentages from 0 to 60 are shown in Figure 5. The spectrum curves for solutions of glycerine concentration 70%, 80%, 90%, and 100% are not shown since they become much wider and flatter. In this case it is difficult to determine the minimum positions of these curves. This means that these refractive indices are beyond the measurement range of the sensor. It can be noticed from Figure 5 that the curves 1 to 4 are smooth and the dip moves towards right gradually. However, for the curves 5, 6, and 7 a special point exists near 460 nm from which they turn right suddenly and this makes the right shift of the dips faster and at the same time it also makes the curve flatter.

1 Output (%) 0.8 0.6 0.4

12 3 4

5 6 7 0.2 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 Wavelength (nm)

Figure 5. Curves obtained with different percentages of Glycerine: 1) 0%; 2)10%; 3) 20%; 4) 30%; 5) 40%; 6) 50%; 7) 60%.

The refractive indices of the different percentages of glycerine can be exactly determined with an Abbe refractometer. The measured results obtained with the refractometer AR200 are listed in Table 1.
Table 1 Glycerine percetange Refractive index
Concentration (%) 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Refractive Index 1.335 1.346 1.356 1.369 1.385 1.406 1.418 1.429 1.445 1.459 1.473

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Wavelength (nm)

800 700 600 500 1.3 1.35 1.4 1.45 Refractive index

Figure 6. Relation between the refractive indices and the positions of the spectrum dips

Figure 6 shows the relation between the refractive indices and the positions of the spectrum dips. The temperature behavior of the sensor can be qualitatively demonstrated by dipping the sensor into a hot water. The hot water is then cooled from about 60 C to the room temperature. Figure 7 shows the three dips measured at about 60C, 40C, and 22C.

1 Output 0.8 0.6 0.4 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 Wavelength (nm)

Figure 7. Temperature effect on PCF SPR: BLUE: 60C; RED: 40C; YELLOW: 22C.

5. CONCLUSIONS
A PCF SPR refractive index sensor has been developed. The SPR device is simple in structure, compact in size, easy to fabricate. It operates at visible light. Though the gold coating was deposited without assuring its thickness to be uniform, the output dip is very pronounced and stable at variable temperature environment. The sensor turns the common drawback of the PCFs into an advantage. The lead in fiber is a multimode optical fiber. Its core size coincides with that of the output fiber of the broadband light source, but it can also be a single mode fiber. Although in principle it would play a role of mode converter better, it is difficult to find a visible broadband source with pigtailed single mode fiber. The middle segment of the PCF can also be replaced by a cladding fiber (a fiber without a core).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors gratefully acknowledge support for this project from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and from the Canada Research Chairs program.

REFERENCES
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[3] Fontana, E., Dulman, H. D., Doggett, O. E. and Pantell, R. H., Surface Plasmon Resonance on a single Mode Fiber, IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference, Ottawa, Canada, 611-616 (1997). [4] Sharma, A. K. and Gupta, B. D., Fiber optic sensor based on surface plasmon resonance with nanoparticle films, Photonics and Nanostruct. Fundam. Appl., 3, 30-37 (2005). [5] Monzon-Hermandez, D., Luna-Moreno, D. and Badens, G., All-optical fiber hydrogen sensor based annealed PdAu sensing nanolayers, Third European workshop on optical Fibre sensors, Antonello Cutolo, Proc. SPIE 6619, 771-773 (2007). [6] Homola, J., Yee, S. S. and Gauglitz, G., Surface plasmon resonance sensors: review, Sens. Actuators, B, 54, 3-15 (1999). [7] Sharma, A. K., Jha, R. and Gupta, B. D., Fiber-Optic sensors Based on Surface plasmon Resonance: A Comprehensive Review, IEEE Sens. J., 7(8), 1118-1129 (2007). [8] Slavik, R., Homola, J., Ctyroky, J. and Brynda, E., Novel spectral fiber optic sensor based on surface plasmon resonance, Sens. Actuators, B, 74, 107-111 (2001). [9] Slavik, R., Homola, J. and Ctyroky, J., Miniaturization of fiber optic surface plasmon resonance sensor, Sens. Actuators, B, 51, 311-315 (1998). [10] Zeng, J. and Jiang, D., Application of fiber optic surface plasmon resonance sensor for measuring liquid refractive index, J. Intell. Mater. Syst. Struct., 17, 787-791.2006). [11] Mitsushio, M. and Higo, M., Simplification and Evaluation of a Gold-deposited SPR Optical Fiber Sensor, The Japan Society for Analytical Chemistry - Analytical Science, 20, 689-694 (2004). [12] Tang, J., Cheng, S., Hsu, W., Chiang, T. and Chau, L., Fiber-optic biochemical sensing with a colloidal goldmodified long period fiber grating, Sens. Actuators, B, 119, 105-109 (2006). [13] Shevchenko, Y. Y. and Albert, J., Plasmob resonances in gold-coated tilted fiber Bragg gratings, Opt. Lett., 32, 211-213 (2007). [14] Homola, J., [Surface plasmon resonance based sensors], Springer, Berlin, 42 (2006).

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