Study of fiber-optic sensing system based on the laboratory-on-a-fiber concept

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The principal research objective of this program is to conduct fundamental studies of novel fiber-optic sensing devices based on the lab-on-a-fiber (LOF) concept which could be used in safety and security or environmental monitoring as remote detectors of dangerous substances. These devices will be based on photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) and on a variety of functionalized coatings, for applications in photonic sensing of selected chemical targets. The program also includes a major applied thrust in technology development, prototyping, testing and implementation of an advanced universal LOF-based technological platform for fiber-optic sensor systems incorporating the sensing devices to be developed. The research plan includes specific short-term and long-term objectives. As the first objective at the sensing device level, studies and development of a novel generation of fiber-optic sensors based on PCFs will be undertaken to develop an entirely new class of devices with programmable properties. These devices will be specifically designed using a variety of approaches, involving long-period gratings, tandem gratings and task-specific fiber segments, in combination with few-mode and multimode interferometry. A practical objective is to selectively design and optimize the transmission, polarization, and light collection properties of these devices through appropriate microstructural modeling, and then to fabricate them through appropriate technological processes. A second objective is to subsequently equip these devices with a variety of functionalized coatings, in order to induce surface plasmon resonance, fluorescence quenching or other effects allowing for selective detection of a wide variety of intended chemical/biological targets. Consequently, we expect to design and manufacture fiber sensors with superior metrological properties, including selectively enhanced sensitivity to a chosen target, highly decreased sensitivity to temperature and negligible false positive ratio. Due to the flexible properties of the new sensors and the processing functionality/adaptability of our LOI system approach, they will be compatible with many specific sensor configurations.