Sensing performance comparison for two kinds of reflected fiber ethanol probes with flatted end and microfiber taper

摘要

Reflected fiber probes can efficiently detect different environmental parameters in the narrow space. In this paper, the coreless fiber and the microfiber taper cascade-spliced structures were coated with the sensitive materials. Their refractive index sensing performance was studied and compared. The microfiber taper shows a sensitivity of -36.581 dBm/RIU, which is significantly higher than that of the coreless fiber structure with the same length (-9.482 dBm/RIU). The reflected microfiber taper ethanol gas sensor was made by surface-modified with the mixtures containing zinc oxide nanosheets and UV glue with low refractive index. In experiment, as the ethanol concentration increased, the intensity of the reflection spectrum increased, resulting in the sensitivity of 7.18 x 10-4 dBm/ppm. This miniature fiber structure can be integrated into the conventional optical fiber system to develop the miniature detectors with high performance.