Design and fabrication of fiber-based surface plasmon resonance sensors

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors based on optical fibers, with their high level of miniaturization, high sensitivity to variations in the refractive index (RI) of the surrounding medium, and sensing capability in hazardous areas, have attracted a great attention for the past two decades as on...

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Main Author: Al-Qazwini, Yusser A. Taqi
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: 2016
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Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/70199/1/FK%202016%2011%20IR.pdf
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spelling my-upm-ir.701992019-08-22T07:31:26Z Design and fabrication of fiber-based surface plasmon resonance sensors 2016-06 Al-Qazwini, Yusser A. Taqi Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors based on optical fibers, with their high level of miniaturization, high sensitivity to variations in the refractive index (RI) of the surrounding medium, and sensing capability in hazardous areas, have attracted a great attention for the past two decades as one of the most advanced real-time and label-free detection technology. The performance of these devices in terms of their sensitivity and detection accuracy is of great importance and it is strongly influenced by the design parameters such as fiber material and geometry, and the properties of the metal layer and sensing medium. This thesis presents numerical simulations to understand the impact of these parameters on the performance of a basic fiber-based SPR sensor implementing a simple waveguide layered structure. The thesis also reports the fabrication of two cost-effective fiber-based SPR sensors. The developed sensors are tested for RI sensing of aqueous media.A simple planar layered structure is numerically simulated to provide design specifications for fiber-based SPR sensors. The numerical simulations help understand the influence of the properties of the involved layers like metal layer and residual cladding thickness, sensing length, and RI of the sensing medium on the response of SPR sensors. An SPR sensor based on a tapered multimode fiber is fabricated and experimentally characterized for its performance. The sensor is made by tapering a standard multimode fiber using an automated tapering machine followed by coating the entire taper with gold without masking. The impact of waist-diameter, waist and transition lengths on the performance of the sensor is investigated. A simple, high-performance, yet robust sensor with a spectral width of 140-220 nm and a sensitivity of ~1600-2000 nm/RIU is realized when the waist diameter is set to 25-45 μm with a total taper length of 3-5 mm and 55-nm gold thickness.A second configuration based on plastic optical fiber is fabricated and analyzed. This fiber brings additional advantages to SPR sensors because of its large numerical aperture, excellent flexibility, and easy manipulation. The implemented chemical etching process with concentrated Acetone preserves the fiber’s circular geometry which simplifies the fabrication process and reduces the associated costs compared to side-polished ones. Same setup and sensing solutions are used while the influence of the gold thickness, fiber residual thickness, and sensing length is investigated. A low-cost, sensitive, and robust SPR sensor with an average sensitivity of 1600 nm/RIU and spectral width of 154 nm is realized when a plastic optical fiber is etched from the middle up to 964-μm with 10-mm sensing length and 55-nm gold thickness. Surface plasmon resonance Plasmons (Physics) 2016-06 Thesis http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/70199/ http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/70199/1/FK%202016%2011%20IR.pdf text en public doctoral Universiti Putra Malaysia Surface plasmon resonance Plasmons (Physics)
institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
collection PSAS Institutional Repository
language English
topic Surface plasmon resonance
Plasmons (Physics)

spellingShingle Surface plasmon resonance
Plasmons (Physics)

Al-Qazwini, Yusser A. Taqi
Design and fabrication of fiber-based surface plasmon resonance sensors
description Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors based on optical fibers, with their high level of miniaturization, high sensitivity to variations in the refractive index (RI) of the surrounding medium, and sensing capability in hazardous areas, have attracted a great attention for the past two decades as one of the most advanced real-time and label-free detection technology. The performance of these devices in terms of their sensitivity and detection accuracy is of great importance and it is strongly influenced by the design parameters such as fiber material and geometry, and the properties of the metal layer and sensing medium. This thesis presents numerical simulations to understand the impact of these parameters on the performance of a basic fiber-based SPR sensor implementing a simple waveguide layered structure. The thesis also reports the fabrication of two cost-effective fiber-based SPR sensors. The developed sensors are tested for RI sensing of aqueous media.A simple planar layered structure is numerically simulated to provide design specifications for fiber-based SPR sensors. The numerical simulations help understand the influence of the properties of the involved layers like metal layer and residual cladding thickness, sensing length, and RI of the sensing medium on the response of SPR sensors. An SPR sensor based on a tapered multimode fiber is fabricated and experimentally characterized for its performance. The sensor is made by tapering a standard multimode fiber using an automated tapering machine followed by coating the entire taper with gold without masking. The impact of waist-diameter, waist and transition lengths on the performance of the sensor is investigated. A simple, high-performance, yet robust sensor with a spectral width of 140-220 nm and a sensitivity of ~1600-2000 nm/RIU is realized when the waist diameter is set to 25-45 μm with a total taper length of 3-5 mm and 55-nm gold thickness.A second configuration based on plastic optical fiber is fabricated and analyzed. This fiber brings additional advantages to SPR sensors because of its large numerical aperture, excellent flexibility, and easy manipulation. The implemented chemical etching process with concentrated Acetone preserves the fiber’s circular geometry which simplifies the fabrication process and reduces the associated costs compared to side-polished ones. Same setup and sensing solutions are used while the influence of the gold thickness, fiber residual thickness, and sensing length is investigated. A low-cost, sensitive, and robust SPR sensor with an average sensitivity of 1600 nm/RIU and spectral width of 154 nm is realized when a plastic optical fiber is etched from the middle up to 964-μm with 10-mm sensing length and 55-nm gold thickness.
format Thesis
qualification_level Doctorate
author Al-Qazwini, Yusser A. Taqi
author_facet Al-Qazwini, Yusser A. Taqi
author_sort Al-Qazwini, Yusser A. Taqi
title Design and fabrication of fiber-based surface plasmon resonance sensors
title_short Design and fabrication of fiber-based surface plasmon resonance sensors
title_full Design and fabrication of fiber-based surface plasmon resonance sensors
title_fullStr Design and fabrication of fiber-based surface plasmon resonance sensors
title_full_unstemmed Design and fabrication of fiber-based surface plasmon resonance sensors
title_sort design and fabrication of fiber-based surface plasmon resonance sensors
granting_institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
publishDate 2016
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/70199/1/FK%202016%2011%20IR.pdf
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