Photonic Crystal Fiber for Sensing Food Additives

Abstract

Photonic Crystal Fiber (PCF) have recently found extensive use in sensor applications. The design of PCFs is crucial for optimal sensing performance. In this work, an index guided Hollow Core Photonic Crystal Fiber (HC-PCF) with hexagonal shaped cladding is proposed for sensing harmful food additives. Using COMSOL software we performed extensive simulations and have shown that our proposed PCF design achieves a very high sensitivity > 90% for typical food additives like Saccharin, Sorbitol, and Butyl Acetate. We have also compared our proposed design and shown that it significantly outperforms the current PCF designs. The presence of hexagonal airholes in the entire cladding layer of the proposed PCF design enhances sensitivity in comparison to the previous designs. Also, the increase in size of the circular core supports the increased sensitivity.