Design of Humidity Sensors Based on Tapered Optical Fibers

Author

Corres, Jesus M. ; Arregui, Francisco J. ; Matias, Ignacio R.

Author_Institution

Dept. de Ingenieria Electrica y Electronica, Univ. Publica de Navarra

Volume

24

Issue

11

fYear

2006

Firstpage

4329

Lastpage

4336

Abstract

In this paper, the response of a tapered optical fiber humidity sensor is optimized, attending to the thickness of the sensitive coating, the dimensions of the taper, the light source, and the utilization of sensitive materials with different refractive indexes. The main novelty of this study is that the thickness of the sensitive layer is on the order of magnitude of the light wavelength used to excite the sensor. It is shown here that an estimation of the sensor sensitivity can be deducted from the transmitted optical power curve obtained during the layer-by-layer construction process. Theoretical and experimental results are presented

Keywords

fibre optic sensors; humidity sensors; optical design techniques; optical fibre cladding; refractive index; humidity sensor design; refractive index; sensitive coating thickness; tapered optical fibers; Coatings; Humidity; Light sources; Optical design; Optical fiber sensors; Optical fibers; Optical materials; Optical refraction; Optical sensors; Refractive index; Electrostatic self-assembly (ESA); fiber optic sensors; humidity sensors; tapered optical fibers;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Lightwave Technology, Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0733-8724

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JLT.2006.883668

Filename

4012185