Method for Determining the Plasmon Resonance Wavelength in Fiber Sensors Based on Tilted Fiber Bragg Gratings

A Wavelet Derivative Spectrum Length Method of TFBG Sensor Demodulation

Fibre optic sensors using tilted fibre Bragg grating (TFBG) have high sensitivity for refractive index measurements. In order to achieve good metrological parameters of the measurement, an appropriate method of spectrum demodulation must be used. The method proposed in the article is an improvement of the spectral length algorithm. The spectral length parameter is treated as the sum of the derivative filter responses. In the original version, the first difference of spectrum elements was used, while this article proposes to use the wavelet transform to calculate the numerical derivative approximation. The advantage of this solution is an easy way to select the level of smoothing filtration by changing the scale parameter. The derivation is appropriate even for a relatively low signal-to-noise level. The approximation of the spectral length by the derivative calculated using the wavelet transform eliminates the high-frequency noise of the optical signal. The absolute value of determined spectral derivatives after significant smoothing can be used to estimate the wavelength of the decay of modes. After analyzing experimental data and performing calculations, it turns out that this is a linear method with better resolution than the contour length algorithm.

Plasmonic biosensing with tilted fiber Bragg gratings interrogated using a 512-pixel spectrometer

Plasmonic tilted fiber Bragg gratings (TFBGs) are very efficient for fast, accurate, and minimally invasive biosensing. Their transmitted amplitude spectrum is a dense comb of narrowband cladding mode resonances (full width at half maximum < 1 nm) that is usually demodulated using highly resolved (wavelength resolution < 10 pm) devices. This work demonstrates the possibility of using a coarsely resolved spectrometer (166 pm) to read out the amplitude spectrum of a gold-coated TFBG. A refined analysis of the spectral content has allowed us to develop signal processing that provides a refractometric sensitivity of 2656 nm/RIU. This is a fivefold improvement compared to previously reported read-out techniques. Biosensing has then been successfully implemented with gold-coated TFBGs implemented in reflection mode for the detection of insulin, with specific antibodies grafted on the gold surface. Our experimental work is a first step toward the industrialization of the FBG technology, as it opens the door to fast parallel biosensing, profiting from the multiple sensing channels (up to 64) of the interrogator and its high processing speed (repetition rate up to 3 kHz).

Cladding Mode Fitting-Assisted Automatic Refractive Index Demodulation Optical Fiber Sensor Probe Based on Tilted Fiber Bragg Grating and SPR

In the paper based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) in a tilted fiber Bragg grating (TFBG), a novel algorithm is proposed, which facilitates demodulation of surrounding refractive index (SRI) via cladding mode interrogation and accelerates calibration and measurement of SRI. Refractive indices with a tiny index step of 2.2 × 10⁻⁵ are prepared by the dilution of glucose aqueous solution for the test and the calibration of this fiber sensor probe. To accelerate the calibration process, automatic selection of the most sensitive cladding mode is demonstrated. First, peaks of transmitted spectrum are identified and numbered. Then, sensitivities of several potentially sensitive cladding modes in amplitude adjacent to the left of the SPR area are calculated and compared. After that, we focus on the amplitudes of the cladding modes as a function of a SRI, and the highest sensitivity of −6887 dB/RIU (refractive index unit) is obtained with a scanning time of 15.77 s in the range from 1520 nm to 1620 nm. To accelerate the scanning speed of the optical spectrum analyzer (OSA), the wavelength resolution is reduced from 0.028 nm to 0.07 nm, 0.14 nm, and 0.28 nm, and consequently the scanning time is shortened to 6.31 s, 3.15 s, and 1.58 s, respectively. However, compared to 0.028 nm, the SRI sensitivity for 0.07 nm, 0.14 nm, and 0.28 nm is reduced to −5685 dB/RIU (17.5% less), −5415 dB/RIU (21.4% less), and −4359 dB/RIU (36.7% less), respectively. Thanks to the calculation of parabolic equation and weighted Gauss fitting based on the original data, the sensitivity is improved to −6332 dB/RIU and −6721 dB/RIU, respectively, for 0.07 nm, and the sensitivity is increased to −5850 dB/RIU and −6228 dB/RIU, respectively, for 0.14 nm.

Single- and Double-Comb Tilted Fibre Bragg Grating Refractive Index Demodulation Methods with Fourier Transform Pre-Processing

The development of fibre optic sensors for measuring the refractive index is related to the creation of new periodic structures and demodulation algorithms for the measured spectrum. Recently, we proposed a double-comb Tilted fibre Bragg grating (DCTFBG) structure. In this article, we analyse such a structure for measuring the refractive index in comparison to a single classical structure. Increasing the number of modes causes a significant change in the Fourier spectrum of optical spectra. For the purpose of data pre-processing, we propose the Fourier Transform as a filtering method in the frequency domain. Then, we analyse separately the band-filtered optical spectra for several frequency ranges. For quantitative analysis, we use algorithms that use quantitative changes in the transmission, i.e., the method of the envelope and the length of the spectrum contour. We propose the use of the Hilbert transform as the envelope method. The second type of algorithms used are methods determining the shift of spectrum features along the wavelength axis. The method of determining the centre of gravity of the area bounded by the envelope and the maximum of the second derivative of the smoothed cumulative spectrum contour length is proposed here. Using the developed methods, the measurement resolution was achieved at the level of 2 × 10⁻⁵ refractive index unit.

Study of Intra-Chamber Processes in Solid Rocket Motors by Fiber Optic Sensors

In this study, an experimental study of the burning rate of solid fuel in a model solid propellant rocket motor (SRM) E-5-0 was conducted using a non-invasive control method with fiber-optic sensors (FOSs). Three sensors based on the Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI), fixed on the SRM E-5-0, recorded the vibration signal during the entire cycle of solid fuel burning. The results showed that, when using MZI sensors, the non-invasive control of solid fuel burnout is made possible both by recording the time of arrival of the combustion front to the sensor and by analyzing the peaks on the spectrogram of the recorded FOS signal. The main mode of acoustic vibrations of the chamber of the model SRM is longitudinal, and it changes with time, depending on the chamber length. Longitudinal modes of the combustion chamber were detected by MZI only after the combustion front passed its fixing point, and the microphone was unable to register them at all. The results showed that the combustion rate was practically constant after the first second, which was confirmed by the graph of the pressure versus time at the nozzle exit.

Methods of Projecting Mode Amplitude Changes on the Wavelength Axis in Order to Determine the Bending Radius on the Basis of TFBG Grating Spectra

Tilted fibre Bragg grating (TFBG) are used as sensors to determine many quantities such as refractive index, temperature, stress, rotation and bending. The TFBG spectrum contains a lot of information and various algorithms are used for its analysis. However, most of these algorithms are dedicated to the analysis of spectral changes under the influence of the refractive index. The most popular algorithm used for this purpose is to calculate the area occupied by cladding modes. Among the remaining algorithms, there are those that use the determination of the cut-off wavelength as a surrounding refractive index (SRI) indicator. Projection on the wavelength axis can also be used to calculate the bending radius of the fibre. However, this is a more difficult task than with SRI, because the mode decay in bending is not so easy to catch. In this article, we propose a multi-step algorithm that allows to determine the impact of bending on mode leakage. At the same time, the place on the wavelength from the side of the Bragg mode and the ghost mode is determined, which represents the cladding mode radiated from the cladding under the influence of bending. The developed algorithm consists of the following operations carried out on the transmission spectrum: Fourier filtering, calculation of the cumulative value of the spectral length, low-pass filtering of the cumulative curve or its corresponding polynomial approximation, determination of the first and second derivative of the approximated curve, and projection of the second derivative of the curve on the wavelength axis. The shift of the wavelength determined in this way indirectly indicates the bending radius of the optical fibre. Based on multiple measurements, we prove that the presented algorithm provides better results when determining the bending radius compared to other algorithms adopted for this purpose and proposed for SRI measurements. Additionally, we analyse the method of determining the shift of a fragment of the spectrum using the phase of the discrete Fourier transform.

Design and Manufacturing Optoelectronic Sensors for the Measurement of Refractive Index Changes under Unknown Polarization State

This article proposes a new method for detecting slight refractive index changes under conditions of unknown polarization state. It is argued that an insignificant modification of the tilted fiber Bragg grating (TFBG) structure and selecting the appropriate spectral region allows us to accurately track changes in the refractive index. It has also been proven that the method can be easily made insensitive to temperature and that the sensitivity to changes in the polarization plane of the input light can be significantly reduced, which is crucial in later practical applications. Analytes in the form of an aqueous glucose solution were used to calibrate the sensor. The proposed method, based on perpendicular tilted fiber Bragg grating (P-TFBG), has a wide range of universality because its development and slight modification will enable the detection of glucose, pathogens, and viruses.

Plasmonic sensors based on tilted Bragg gratings in multicore optical fibers

Bare and gold-coated tilted fiber Bragg gratings (TFBGs) can nowadays be considered as a mature technology for volume and surface refractometric sensing, respectively. As for other technologies, a continuous effort is made towards the production of even more sensitive sensors, thereby enabling a high-resolution screening of the surroundings and the possible detection of rare events. To this aim, we study in this work the development of TFBG refractometers in 4-core fibers. In particular, we show that the refractometric sensitivity of the cut-off mode can reach 100 nm/RIU for a bare grating. Using another demodulation method, a tenfold sensitivity increase is obtained when tracking the extremum of the SPR (surface plasmon resonance) envelope for a gold-coated TFBG configuration. Immobilization of DNA probes was performed as a proof-of-concept to assess the high surface sensitivity of the device.

Review of Fiber Optical Sensors and Its Importance in Sewer Corrosion Factor Analysis

Adverse effects of wastewater on the hygiene of human and circumstances is a major issue in society. Appropriate refining systems with high efficiency is required to treat the wastewater. Sewage treatment plant plays a major and important role in conserving incredible nature of the environment. Microbiologically Induced Corrosion (MIC) is an important phenomenon in sewage structures which causes the deterioration of infrastructures. Huge capital has been spent and efforts have been made on wastewater treatment infrastructure to increase operating efficiency and reliability of compliance. The investments in reimbursement and maintenance of sewer structures upsurge with an increase in the rate of MIC. The focus of this review is to describe MIC in sewer structure and the factors influencing the corrosion such as the generation of Sulfuric acid (H2SO4), Relative Humidity (RH), pH of the concrete structure and temperature. Modern developments in the design of Fiber Optical Sensors (FOSs) for observing the parameters including pH, Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S), RH and temperature will be discussed.

HER2 biosensing through SPR-envelope tracking in plasmonic optical fiber gratings

In the biomedical detection context, plasmonic tilted fiber Bragg gratings (TFBGs) have been demonstrated to be a very accurate and sensitive sensing tool, especially well-adapted for biochemical detection. In this work, we have developed an aptasensor following a triple strategy to improve the overall sensing performances and robustness. Single polarization fiber (SPF) is used as biosensor substrate while the demodulation is based on tracking a peculiar feature of the lower envelope of the cladding mode resonances spectrum. This method is highly sensitive and yields wavelength shifts several tens of times higher than the ones reported so far based on the tracking of individual modes of the spectrum. An amplification of the response is further performed through a sandwich assay by the use of specific antibodies. These improvements have been achieved on a biosensor developed for the detection of the HER2 (Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor-2) protein, a relevant breast cancer biomarker. These advanced developments can be very interesting for point-of-care biomedical measurements in a convenient practical way.

Selective detection of cadmium ions using plasmonic optical fiber gratings functionalized with bacteria

Environmental monitoring and potable water control are key applications where optical fiber sensing solutions can outperform other technologies. In this work, we report a highly sensitive plasmonic fiber-optic probe that has been developed to determine the concentration of cadmium ions (Cd²⁺) in solution. This original sensor was fabricated by immobilizing the Acinetobacter sp. around gold-coated tilted fiber Bragg gratings (TFBGs). To this aim, the immobilization conditions of bacteria on the gold-coated optical fiber surface were first experimentally determined. Then, the coated sensors were tested in vitro. The relative intensity of the sensor response experienced a change of 1.1 dB for a Cd²⁺ concentration increase from 0.1 to 1000 ppb. According to our test procedure, we estimate the experimental limit of detection to be close to 1 ppb. Cadmium ions strongly bind to the sensing surface, so the sensor exhibits a much higher sensitivity to Cd²⁺ than to other heavy metal ions such as Pb²⁺, Zn²⁺ and CrO₄^2- found in contaminated water, which ensures a good selectivity.