Surface-enhanced Raman scattering sensor based on fused biconical taper zone of optical fiber

In this paper, a novel surface-enhanced Raman scattering （SERS） sensor combined with fused biconical taper fiber （FBTF） and film coated with silver sols is proposed. This structure is designed to significantly increase the SERS active surface when the length of the taper is increased and the radius is reduced, since the penetration depth is inversely proportional to the taper radius and proportional to the taper length according to the fiber-optic evanescent-wave theory. Based on the SERS sensing principle, the feasibility of FBTF sensor is analyzed in this paper. As a result, the Raman spectrum of R6G is obtained from the fused biconical taper zone surface coating with the silver sols in our experiments. The detected concentration is up to 10-7mol/L.

Experimental measurement and numerical analysis of fused taper shape for optical fiber coupler

To find out the effect of the shape of fused taper region on the optical fiber coupler, the fiber couplers were fabricated at different drawing speeds with a six-axes fiber coupler machine. The results, which were obtained fi＇om the shape of fused taper region measured with microscope, show that there is a close correlation between the cone angle and optical performance of fiber coupler. High-performance fiber coupler cannot be obtained until rheological shape is controlled accurately. The numerical analysis model, which was built based on generalized Maxwell viscoelastic theory, is resolved with ANSYS software. The calculated results accord with the experimental data. It can apply a theoretic basis for forecasting the shape of fiber coupler fabricated under the conditions of different technological parameters.

Relationship between rheological manufacturing process and optical performance of optical fiber coupler

Through theoretical analysis and experiments, the viscoelastic mechanical model of optical fiber coupler in the process of fused biconical taper was established, and the numerical analysis in non-uniform temperature field was made. The results show that the rheological parameters, such as drawing speed and fused temperature, have a tremendous influence on stress distribution and performance of optical fiber coupler, especially the influence of fused temperature. The change of fused temperature by 5℃ can lead to the change of the maximum stress by 30% and stress difference by 20% in the same cross section. The change of temperature gradient by 3% can result in the change of stress difference by 90%. In the present condition of rheological technology, rheological defects such as crystallizations and microcracks are easy to generate in the optical fiber coupler.

Structure analysis of optical fiber coupler with infrared spectrometry

To obtain excellent performance optical fiber couplers, the structural difference of SiO2 in couplers with different manufacturing techniques was investigated. With 740-FT-IR infrared spectrometric analyzer, the infrared absorption spectrum of SiO2 in couplers at different drawing velocities was measured, and two characteristic peaks in the wavenumber range of 6502000 cm-1 were observed. One characteristic peak is at about 943 cm-1, which is （attributed） to Si—O—Si bond asymmetric stretching vibration, the other is at about 773 cm-1, which is attributed to （Si—O—Si） bond symmetric stretching vibration. From the infrared spectrum, it is found that the intensity and wavenumber of the characteristic peaks are related to the manufacturing technique of couplers. The characteristic peak at （about） 943 cm-1 becomes steeper when increasing the drawing velocity. At the drawing velocity of 150 μm/s, the distance between the two characteristic peaks is maximum, and then the optical fiber coupler has excellent performance, indicating that the performance of the optical fiber coupler has a close relationship with the wavenumber of the two characteristic peaks.

Effect of technological parameters on optical performance of fiber coupler

To find out the influence of technological parameters on optical performance of fused optical fiber device, the fiber coupler was served as subject investigated by using the fused biconical taper machining as experimental setup. Fused fiber coupler's optical performances such as insertion loss, excess loss, directivity and uniformity were tested with the optical test system that was constituted of tunable laser and optical spectrum analyzer. Especially the relationship between optical performance and drawing speed was investigated. The experimental results show that the optical performance is closely related to process conditions. At fused temperature of 1 200 ℃, there exists a drawing speed of 150 μms, which makes the device's performance optimum. Out of this speed region, the optical performance drops quickly. At drawing speed of 200 μms, the excess loss is relatively small when the fused temperature is above 1 200 ℃. So the technological parameters have close relationship with optical performance of the coupler, and the good performance coupler can't get until the drawing speed and fused temperature match accurately.