Optical Fiber-Tip Sensors Based on In-Situ µ-Printed Polymer Suspended-Microbeams

Authors :: Ping-Kong Alex Wai
Xia Ouyang
A. Ping Zhang
Jushuai Wu
Mian Yao
Hwa Yaw Tam
Source :: Sensors, Volume 18, Issue 6, Sensors, Vol 18, Iss 6, p 1825 (2018), Sensors (Basel, Switzerland)
Publication Year :: 2018
Publisher :: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, 2018.
Abstract: Miniature optical fiber-tip sensors based on directly &micro printed polymer suspended-microbeams are presented. With an in-house optical 3D &mu printing technology, SU-8 suspended-microbeams are fabricated in situ to form Fabry&ndash P&eacute rot (FP) micro-interferometers on the end face of standard single-mode optical fiber. Optical reflection spectra of the fabricated FP micro-interferometers are measured and fast Fourier transform is applied to analyze the cavity of micro-interferometers. The applications of the optical fiber-tip sensors for refractive index (RI) sensing and pressure sensing, which showed 917.3 nm/RIU to RI change and 4.29 nm/MPa to pressure change, respectively, are demonstrated in the experiments. The sensors and their optical &micro printing method unveil a new strategy to integrate complicated microcomponents on optical fibers toward &lsquo lab-on-fiber&rsquo devices and applications.

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