Tapered Optical Fiber Configurations: History
View Latest Version
Please note this is an old version of this entry, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Subjects: Materials Science, Biomaterials
Contributor:
Bakr Taha

Understanding environmental information is necessary for functions correlated with human activities to improve healthcare quality and reduce ecological risk. Tapered optical fibers reduce some limitations of such devices and can be considerably more responsive to fluorescence and absorption properties changes.

  • tapered optical fiber
  • optical sensors
  • Bragg grating
  • microstructure
  • refractive index sensor

1. Introduction

Understanding environmental information is necessary for the correct functioning of processes associated with individual actions to improve indoor and outdoor conditions [1]. However, it needs monitoring and management of essential environmental factors that may be classified into physical parameters such as temperature, pressure, humidity, and biological characteristics, such as concentration of contaminants and bio-hazards, and pathogens, such as viruses [2]. Over the years, optical sensors have become an attractive topic for researchers in many applications due to their benefits such as compact size, low weight, electromagnetic protection, high stability, and the ability to study sensor arrays remotely. Fiber Bragg grating (FBG) devices are based on a diffraction grating. The concept of grating refers to periodic core refractive index change. When light passes through the grating structure, it reflects a portion of each grating layer [3][4][5]. Long-period fiber grating (LPFG) has periods ranging from hundreds of microns to millimeters, linking incoming light led by a propagation direction in the core to various forward-propagating cladding modes of high diffraction order m in an optical fiber, which fade fast due to scattering losses [6][7][8]. A Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI) measures the relative phase shift changes between two beams formed by dividing light from a single source. Many applications were covered, such as couplers, ring resonators, splitters, tapers, gates, and terminators [9][10]. A photonic crystal fiber (PCF) is a periodical optical nanostructure that controls photon mobility [11]. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) SPR is the resonant vibration of charged electrons at the interface of negative and positive permeability material by generated light to detect material absorption on planar metal (commonly gold/silver) surfaces [12][13]. Multi-taper devices are integrated by two types of fiber (single-mode /multi-mode) [14]. Optical fiber loop ring-down (FLRD) links two optical couplers into the optical ring [15][16]. Optical tweezers are formerly known as single-beam gradient force traps that capture and manipulate tiny particles using a highly powerful laser beam [17][18].

2. Background

In the 1960s, many studies have attempted to develop optical fiber in different fields such as communication, medicine, the environment, and many others. Essentially, optical sensing originated from fiber communication. The employment of lasers with optical fiber enables accurate and sensitive detection compared with other techniques. This method has the advantage of notable features such as interference resistance, adaptability, real-time parameter monitoring, and small size [19][20][21][22][23]. Many optical fiber structures use lasers such as FBG, fiber-optic interferometer, optical fiber MZI, buffer structure, Fabry–Perot, directional couplers, and optical fiber waveguides to a biosensor [24][25][26][27][28]. Tapered fiber production has been shown to employ several processes, including laser ablation, electron beam lithography, vapor–liquid–solid operations, and fiber pulling. Among these processes, flame heating is one of the most adaptable to produce tapered fibers with good physical properties [29][30][31]. Optical sensors can detect changes in optics properties such as refractive index (RI), absorption, reflection, and fluorescence related to the physical parameters of the investigated environment such as pressure, strain, temperature, and chemical composition. In contrast, it is simple to create optical sensors by guiding light to and collecting light from the measuring location, a process known as extrinsic sensing [32], or by using the fiber itself as the transducer, a technique known as intrinsic sensing [33]. Assessment approaches based on optical fibers received considerable attention in various analytical fields, including chemical and biological sensing, environmental and structural health monitoring, and medical diagnostics. Their vast range of designs and methods enable optical fibers to construct sensitive and selective sensors for real-world circumstances [34][35][36]. The tapered fiber technique is one of the most widely used in the production of optical sensor components. The tapered fiber technique uses the evanescent wave (EW) tapered-propagating mode to determine RI or chemical composition properties [37]. Recently, tapered optical fibers have been used to create sensors including polarizers, sub-micron wire, light amplification, and near-field microscopy [38][39][40][41][42]. As shown in the literature, the shape of the tapered fiber is critical to its sensor function, with lower diameter taper waists giving increased sensitivity [43][44]. Additionally, tapered fiber optics may be used as light probes to evaluate characteristics of interest with spatial precision on the scale of micrometers, allowing direct examination of biological samples at a cellular level [45]. A study shows the relationship between the integrated photon intensity with particle size and tip radius by scanning tunneling microscopy. The isochromatic photon map varies with the wavelength and geometric asymmetry of the STM tip [46]. In recent years, optical fiber tweezers have garnered significant attention in optical trapping because of their ease of manipulation and design that is small and easy to fabricate [47]. A study shows the use of spectral-width tapered FBG in microsurgical force sensors [48]. Label-free sensors use taper fiber and FBG to identify various cancers [49].

3. Overview of Tapered Fiber

Optical fiber is divided into two types depending on the number of modes (single mode fiber (SMF) and multi-mode fiber (MMF)) and refractive index (RI). In SMF, only one kind of light beam may propagate through the fiber core with a diameter of 5–10 μm and 125 μm of cladding mode. In MMF, multiple light beam modes can propagate in the fiber core with diameter (50–100) μm and 125 μm of cladding mode [50][51]. In contrast, tapered fibers are created by stretching a conventional SMF to generate a reduced core diameter shape at the lowest diameter named as the waist. In addition, the waist is a transition zone whose cladding and core diameters decrease when the SMF rated size decreases to the order of micrometer or even nanoscale. The field distribution shifts as the wave propagates through the transition zones due to the change in core/cladding diameters along the path. Thus, energy transfers change with the rate of diameter change, resulting in the loss of propagating wave power and increase loss with the built tapered fiber [52][53]. Flame heating techniques and lasers are used to generate tapered optical fibers. Besides, the tapered length, waist diameter, and refractive index (RI) parameters have been influential in optical properties [54]. Fiber tapers are classified into two types, adiabatic and non-adiabatic. In adiabatic designs, the angle of the taper transition area is a modest 10-4-10-3 rad and the optical fiber cylinder symmetric is maintained (with a taper diameter ratio to the core beginning diameter a/a0
between 0.2 and 1), resulting in most optical power remaining in the basic mode. The non-adiabatic taper, on the other hand, has a larger taper angle [55][56]. Standard tapered fiber schematic depiction is shown in Figure 1.
Biosensors 11 00253 g001 550
Figure 1. Schematic illustration of the tapered fiber standard [56].

4. Taxonomy of Literature Review on Tapered Optic Fiber

Our review selected, evaluated, and analyzed (22) empirical research on optical sensors based on tapered optic fiber, as shown in Table 1. We extract relevant literature from academic databases, such as Science Direct, which provides diverse scientific research across all fields; Scopus, which provides extensive coverage of work from all disciplines; Web of Science, which demonstrates a comprehensive range of various topics in all literature; IEEE, which is recognized as scientifically accurate and pro-science. The section that follows offers a taxonomy of tapered fiber structures and a literature review, as shown in Figure 2.
Biosensors 11 00253 g002 550
Figure 2. Taxonomy of literature research on tapered optic fiber.

5. Opportunities and Challenges

One of the main problems for future applications of tapered optical fiber sensors is manufacturing the devices, which must be dependable and reproducible. As we know, taper devices are not selectively sensitive in their most basic form and require specificity-enhancing coating. Furthermore, there are difficulties in handling such as packing and mechanical strength. In addition, the limit of diffraction is the essential restriction to trapping. It is difficult to confine particles inside the diffraction limit, with limited distance around the trapped particle. The limit of diffraction also makes it challenging to combine additional manipulation and measurement activities that must be concurrent [57] and to achieve excellent symmetry while avoiding the volatility of the waist diameter induced by flame turbulence [58][59][60][61]. Due to the tiny size of the fiber core, the communication fiber connector demands extreme accuracy. The influence of lateral displacement on the coupling effectiveness of fiber connectors was reported. The innovative directional tapered description optical fiber connection is then constructed, considering that optical fiber is often used in pairs. One is utilized for transmission and the other for reception. The direction of signal transmission tapers the redesigned connector fiber head construction [62][63]. Moreover, the future opportunities to advance (micro/nano) techniques and develop fibers with unique optical characteristics require little question that designs and fabrications of innovative microstructured optical sensors will continue to be a growing research field. The proposed development of microstructured fiber optic sensors will face both challenges and possibilities [41], for example, optical fiber potential sensing selectivity with the dual-parameter measuring capability to date. However, there are requirements to reduce the error of multi-parameter measurements and expand the dual-parameter size to three-parameter or over. In addition, there is higher sensitivity because more accurate measurements in chemical and biological sectors single-molecule identification and gas sensing are desired. Chemical and biological single molecule identification and gas sensing can be an intelligent and flexible sensor design with varied target samples and different conditions. Long stability and the robustness of the small structures are critical to sensing effectiveness and longevity devices. Finally, optical fiber has many essential features such as flexible input/output, capability, and light delivery for remote instruments. Consequently, optical tapering might apply for on-site analytics and portable mini-spectrometers. Table 1 summarizes the challenges of tapered fiber structures.
Table 1. Shows the challenges of tapered fiber techniques.

Tapered Method

Challenges

Fiber Bragg grating (FBG)

• Some spectra of reflection overlapped.

• Unstable interference wave.

• Complex configuration for grating inscription.

• Insufficient sensitivity.

Long-period fiber grating (LPFG)

• The spectrum is limiting.

• Cross-sensitivity problem.

• The roughness of the surface.

Mach–Zehnder (MZI)

• Spectral band-width is limited.

• Manufacturing cost.

• Sensitivity enhancement is required.

Photonic crystals (PC)

• The samples given are limited.

• The manufacturing of metal layers is a complex procedure.

• Integration is expensive.

• Mechanical reliability is weak, and mass production is challenging.

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR)

• The life of the sensitive layer controls the lifetime of the device.

• Small sample size.

• There is a need for practical application, including different sample collection processes.

• The waist area is rather hard.

Multi-taper devices

• Measured refractive index range is limited.

• Limited stability.

• The roughness of the surface.

Fiber loop ring-down technology

• The samples given are limited.

• Measuring accuracy depends on the high wavelength resolution of the de-modulation device.

Optical tweezers

• Obtain an analytical formula for the output light field is difficult.

• The trapping of optical tweezers is inadequate due to the limit of laser beam diffraction.

• Dramatic disruptions from molecular diffusion.

This entry is adapted from the peer-reviewed paper 10.3390/bios11080253

References

  1. Newton, J. Wellbeing and the Natural Environment: A Brief Overview of the Evidence; University of Bath: Bath, UK, 2007; pp. 1–53.
  2. Joe, H.E.; Yun, H.; Jo, S.H.; Jun, M.B.G.; Min, B.K. A review on optical fiber sensors for environmental monitoring. Int. J. Precis. Eng. Manuf. Green Technol. 2018, 5, 173–191.
  3. Song, H.; Pei, H.; Zhu, H. Monitoring of tunnel excavation based on the fiber Bragg grating sensing technology. Meas. J. Int. Meas. Confed. 2021, 169, 108334.
  4. Guo, X.; Wang, B.; Wang, Z.; Yu, W.; Ma, Z.; Yang, T. Application of the Microclamped Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) Sensor in Rock Bolt Support Quality Monitoring. Adv. Civ. Eng. 2020, 2020.
  5. Sahota, J.K.; Gupta, N.; Dhawan, D. Fiber Bragg grating sensors for monitoring of physical parameters: A comprehensive review. Opt. Eng. 2020, 59, 1.
  6. Wang, J.N.; Luo, C.Y. Long-period fiber grating sensors for the measurement of liquid level and fluid-flow velocity. Sensors 2012, 12, 4578–4593.
  7. Bandyopadhyay, S.; Biswas, P.; Chiavaioli, F.; Dey, T.K.; Basumallick, N.; Trono, C.; Giannetti, A.; Tombelli, S.; Baldini, F.; Bandyopadhyay, S. Long-period fiber grating: A specific design for biosensing applications. Appl. Opt. 2017, 56, 9846.
  8. Zhao, X.W.; Wang, Q. Mini review: Recent advances in long period fiber grating biological and chemical sensors. Instrum. Sci. Technol. 2019, 47, 140–169.
  9. Saghaei, H.; Elyasi, P.; Karimzadeh, R. Design, fabrication, and characterization of Mach–Zehnder interferometers. Photonics Nanostruct. Fundam. Appl. 2019, 37, 100733.
  10. El Shamy, R.S.; Khalil, D.; Swillam, M.A. Mid Infrared Optical Gas Sensor Using Plasmonic Mach-Zehnder Interferometer. Sci. Rep. 2020, 10, 1–9.
  11. Inan, H.; Poyraz, M.; Inci, F.; Lifson, M.A.; Baday, M.; Cunningham, B.T.; Demirci, U. Photonic crystals: Emerging biosensors and their promise for point-of-care applications. Chem. Soc. Rev. 2017, 46, 366–388.
  12. Long, H.; Bao, L.; Habeeb, A.A.; Lu, P. Effects of doping concentration on the surface plasmonic resonances and optical nonlinearities in AGZO nano-triangle arrays. Opt. Quantum Electron. 2017, 49, 1–8.
  13. Zhou, J.; Qi, Q.; Wang, C.; Qian, Y.; Liu, G.; Wang, Y.; Fu, L. Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensors for food allergen detection in food matrices. Biosens. Bioelectron. 2019, 142, 111449.
  14. Salam, A.O.A.; Sheriff, R.E.; Al-Araji, S.R.; Mezher, K.; Nasir, Q. Multi-taper spectrum-based estimator for cognitive radio using multiple antennas and STBC techniques. IET Circ. Dev. Syst. 2018, 12, 133–143.
  15. Chen, Y.; Liu, T.; Han, Q.; Yan, W.; Yu, L. Fiber loop ring-down cavity integrated U-bent single-mode-fiber for magnetic field sensing. Photonics Res. 2016, 4, 322.
  16. Yang, Y.; Yang, L.; Zhang, Z.; Yang, J.; Wang, J.; Zhang, L.; Deng, X.; Zhang, Z. Fiber loop ring down for static ice pressure detection. Opt. Fiber Technol. 2017, 36, 312–316.
  17. Killian, J.L.; Ye, F.; Wang, M.D. Optical Tweezers: A Force to Be Reckoned With. Cell 2018, 175, 1445–1448.
  18. Crozier, K.B. Quo vadis, plasmonic optical tweezers? Light Sci. Appl. 2019, 8, 4–9.
  19. Kao, K.C.; Hockham, G.A. Dielectric-Fibre Surface Waveguides for Optical Frequencies; Pergamon Press Ltd.: Oxford, UK, 1966.
  20. Culshaw, B. Optical Fiber Sensor Technologies: Opportunities and-Perhaps-Pitfalls. J. Lightwave Technol. 2004, 22, 39–50.
  21. Taha, B.A.; Mashhadany, Y.A.; Mokhtar, M.H.H.; Zan, M.S.D.B.; Arsad, N. An analysis review of detection coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) based on biosensor application. Sensors 2020, 20, 6764.
  22. Taha, B.A. Perspectives of Photonics Technology to Diagnosis COVID-19 Viruses: A Short Review. J. Appl. Sci. Nanotechnol. 2021, 1, 1–6.
  23. Taha, B.A.; Al Mashhadany, Y.; Bachok, N.N.; Bakar, A.A.A.; Mokhtar, M.H.H.; Zan, M.S.D.B.; Arsad, N. Detection of COVID-19 Virus on Surfaces Using Photonics: Challenges and Perspectives. Diagnostics 2021, 11, 1119.
  24. Elgaud, M.M.; Bakar, A.A.A.; Ghaith, A.A.; Naim, N.F.; Arsad, N.; Mokhtar, M.H.H.; Azeman, N.H.; Zan, M.S.D. Pulse compressed time domain multiplexed fiber bragg grating sensor: A comparative study. IEEE Access 2018, 6, 64427–64434.
  25. Rao, Y.-J.; Deng, M.; Duan, D.-W.; Yang, X.-C.; Zhu, T.; Cheng, G.-H. Micro Fabry-Perot interferometers in silica fibers machined by femtosecond laser. Opt. Express 2007, 15, 14123.
  26. Fernandes, L.A.; Grenier, J.R.; Herman, P.R.; Aitchison, J.S.; Marques, P.V.S. Femtosecond laser fabrication of birefringent directional couplers as polarization beam splitters in fused silica. Opt. Express 2011, 19, 11992.
  27. Jung, Y.; Lee, S.; Lee, B.H.; Oh, K. Ultracompact in-line broadband Mach–Zehnder interferometer using a composite leaky hollow-optical-fiber waveguide. Opt. Lett. 2008, 33, 2934–2936.
  28. Leng, Y.; Yun, V.E.; Goldhar, J. UV laser fabrication and modification of fiber Bragg gratings by stitching sub-gratings with in situ fluorescence monitoring. Appl. Opt. 2017, 56, 6977–6981.
  29. Morales, A.M.; Lieber, C.M. A laser ablation method for the synthesis of crystalline semiconductor nanowires. Science 1998, 279, 208–211.
  30. Westwater, J. Growth of silicon nanowires via gold/silane vapor–liquid–solid reaction. J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B Microelectron. Nanometer Struct. 1997, 15, 554.
  31. Chen, J.; Reed, M.A.; Rawlett, A.M.; Tour, J.M. Large on-off ratios and negative differential resistance in a molecular electronic device. Science 1999, 286, 1550–1552.
  32. Giallorenzi, T.G.; Dandridge, A. Optical Fiber Sensor Technology. IEEE Trans. Microwave Theory Tech. 1982, 30, 472–511.
  33. Mehrvar, M.; Bis, C.; Scharer, J.M.; Moo-Young, M.; Luong, J.H. Fiber-optic biosensors-Trends and advances. Anal. Sci. 2000, 16, 677–692.
  34. Arnold, M.A. Fiber-Optic Chemical Sensors. Anal. Chem. 1992, 64.
  35. Seitz, W.R. Chemical sensors based on fiber optics. Anal. Chem. 1984, 56, A16–A34.
  36. Jarzebinska, R.; Korposh, S.; James, S.; Batty, W.; Tatam, R.; Lee, S.W. Optical Gas Sensor Fabrication Based on Porphyrin-Anchored Electrostatic Self-Assembly onto Tapered Optical Fibers. Anal. Lett. 2012, 45, 1297–1309.
  37. Jarzebinska, R.; Cheung, C.S.; James, S.W.; Tatam, R.P. Response of the transmission spectrum of tapered optical fibres to the deposition of a nanostructured coating. Meas. Sci. Technol. 2009, 20, 34001.
  38. Mackenzie, H.S.; Payne, F.P. Evanescent Field Amplification in a Tapered Single-Mode Optical Fibre. Electron. Lett. 1990, 26, 130–132.
  39. Massaro, A.; Pierantoni, L.; Rozzi, T. Far-field radiation of optical fibers with tapered end. J. Lightwave Technol. 2006, 24, 3162–3168.
  40. Latifi, H.; Zibaii, M.I.; Hosseini, S.M.; Jorge, P. Nonadiabatic tapered optical fiber for biosensor applications. Photonic Sens. 2012, 2, 340–356.
  41. Xu, Y.; Lu, P.; Chen, L.; Bao, X. Recent developments in micro-structured fiber optic sensors. Fibers 2017, 5, 3.
  42. Jabbar, A.A.; Haider, A.J.; Haider, M.J.; Al-Azawi, K.F. Preparation and characterization of NiO/PSi as self-cleaning surface. J. Mater. Res. Technol. 2020, 9, 15123–15131.
  43. Birks, T.A.; Li, Y.W. The Shape of Fiber Tapers. J. Lightwave Technol. 1992, 10, 432–438.
  44. Leung, A.; Rijal, K.; Shankar, P.M.; Mutharasan, R. Effects of geometry on transmission and sensing potential of tapered fiber sensors. Biosens. Bioelectron. 2006, 21, 2202–2209.
  45. McCulloch, S.; Uttamchandani, D. Development of a fibre optic micro-optrode for intracellular pH measurements. IEE Proc. Optoelectron. 1997, 144, 162–167.
  46. International, S.M.; Nishitani, R.; Umeno, T.; Kasuya, A.; Nishina, Y. Correlation Between Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM)-Induced Photon Map and the STM Topography of Nanometer-Size Metal Particles. eCM J. 1998, 12, 113.
  47. Zhao, X.; Zhao, N.; Shi, Y.; Xin, H.; Li, B. Optical fiber tweezers: A versatile tool for optical trapping and manipulation. Micromachines 2020, 11, 114.
  48. Abushagur, A.A.G.; Arsad, N.; Mokhtar, M.H.H.; Bakar, A.A.A. High Sensitive Microsurgical Force Sensor Using Spectral-Width of Tapered Fiber Bragg Gratings. In Proceedings of the 2019 IEEE International Conference on BioPhotonics (BioPhotonics), Taipei, Taiwan, 15–18 September 2019; pp. 1–2.
  49. Sun, D.; Ran, Y.; Wang, G. Label-free detection of cancer biomarkers using an in-line taper fiber-optic interferometer and a fiber bragg grating. Sensors 2017, 17, 2559.
  50. Mitschke, F. Fiber Optics: Physics and Technology, 2nd ed.; Springer: Berlin, Germany, 2016; ISBN 9783662527641.
  51. Chen, G.Y.; Wu, X.; Kang, Y.Q.; Yu, L.; Monro, T.M.; Lancaster, D.G.; Liu, X.; Xu, H. Ultra-fast Hygrometer based on U-shaped Optical Microfiber with Nanoporous Polyelectrolyte Coating. Sci. Rep. 2017, 7, 1–7.
  52. Zhu, S.; Pang, F.; Huang, S.; Zou, F.; Dong, Y.; Wang, T. High sensitivity refractive index sensor based on adiabatic tapered optical fiber deposited with nanofilm by ALD. Opt. Express 2015, 23, 13880.
  53. He, F.; Liao, Y.; Lin, J.; Song, J.; Qiao, L.; Cheng, Y.; He, F.; Sugioka, K. Femtosecond laser fabrication of monolithically integrated microfluidic sensors in glass. Sensors 2014, 14, 19402–19440.
  54. Correia, R.; James, S.; Lee, S.W.; Morgan, S.P.; Korposh, S. Biomedical application of optical fibre sensors. J. Opt. 2018, 20.
  55. Black, R.J.; Lacroix, S.; Gonthier, F.; Love, J.D. Tapered single-mode fibres and devices Part 2. Experimental and theoretical quantification. IEE Proc. Part J Optoelectron. 1991, 138, 355–364.
  56. Harun, S.W.; Lim, K.S.; Tio, C.K.; Dimyati, K.; Ahmad, H. Theoretical analysis and fabrication of tapered fiber. Optik 2013, 124, 538–543.
  57. Korposh, S.; James, S.W.; Lee, S.W.; Tatam, R.P. Tapered Optical Fibre Sensors: Current Trends and Future Perspectives. Sensors 2019, 19, 2294.
  58. Maragò, O.M.; Jones, P.H.; Gucciardi, P.G.; Volpe, G.; Ferrari, A.C. Optical trapping and manipulation of nanostructures. Nat. Nanotechnol. 2013, 8, 807–819.
  59. Tong, L. Micro/nanofibre optical sensors: Challenges and prospects. Sensors 2018, 18, 903.
  60. Lakomski, M.; Guzowski, B.; Wozniak, A. Fabrication of ultra-long tapered optical fibers. Microelectron. Eng. 2020, 221, 111193.
  61. Xiong, Y.; Xu, F. Multifunctional integration on optical fiber tips: Challenges and opportunities. Adv. Photonics 2020, 2, 1–24.
  62. Hu, Q.; Li, C. The New Tapered Fiber Connector and the Test of Its Error Rate and Coupling Characteristics. Int. J. Opt. 2017, 2017.
  63. Li, T.; Zhu, L.; Yang, X.; Lou, X.; Yu, L. A refractive index sensor based on h-shaped photonic crystal fibers coated with ag-graphene layers. Sensors 2020, 20, 741.
More
© Text is available under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.
This entry is offline, you can click here to edit this entry!
ScholarVision Creations
Feedback