Refractive index sensors based on long-period grating in a negative curvature hollow-core fiber

Abstract

Long-period optical fiber gratings (LPGs) are one of the widely used concepts for the sensing of refractive index (RI) changes. Negative curvature hollow-core fibers (NCHCFs), with their relatively large internal diameters that are easy to fill with liquids, appear as a very interesting medium to combine with the idea of LPGs and use for RI sensing. However, to date, there has been no investigation of the RI sensing capabilities of the NCHCF-based LPGs. The results presented in the paper do not only address this matter, but also compare the RI sensitivities of the NCHCFs alone and the gratings. By modeling two revolver-type fibers, with their internal diameters reflecting the results of the possible LPG-inscription process, the authors show that the fibers’ transmission windows shift in response to the RI change, resulting in changes in RI sensitivities as high as −4411 nm/RIU. On the contrary, the shift in the transmission dip of the NCHCF-based LPGs corresponds to a sensitivity of −658 nm/RIU. A general confirmation of these results was ensured by comparing the analytical formulas describing the sensitivities of the NCHCFs and the NCHCF-based LPGs.