Suntsov, Sergiy

Resonant waveguide gratings (RWG) are widely used as on‐chip refractometers due to their relatively high sensitivity to ambient refractive index changes, their possibility of parallel high-throughput detection and their easy fabrication. In the last two decades, efforts have been made to integrate RWG sensors onto fiber facets, although practical application is still hindered by the lim-ited resonant peak intensity caused by the low coupling efficiency between the reflected beam and the fiber mode. In this work, we propose a new compact RWG fiber‐optic sensor with an additional Fabry‐Pérot cavity, which is directly integrated onto the tip of a single‐mode fiber. By introducing such a resonant structure, a strongly enhanced peak reflectance and improved figure of merit are achieved, while, at the same time, the grating size can be greatly reduced, thus allowing for spatial multiplexing of many sensors on a tip of a single multi‐core fiber. This paves the way for the development of probe‐like reflective fiber‐tip RWG sensors, which are of great interest for multi‐channel biochemical sensing and for real‐time medical diagnostics.

We investigate multiplexing of four highly sensitive Fabry-Perot (FP) microresonators at the tip of a single-mode optical fiber for refractive index (RI) measurements with simultaneous temperature compensation. The individual sensing elements for RI or temperature consist of either open-cavity FP resonators or solid fiber core regions fabricated by diamond-blade dicing of single-mode optical fibers, respectively. The reflectivity of the open resonators is further enhanced by matched dielectric coatings. At the same time, the solid core resonators formed by the fiber pieces between the open cavities are used as thermometers. This allows immediate compensation for temperature cross-sensitivity during RI measurements. The general performance of the sensor is demonstrated by measuring the RI of sucrose solutions, where we use phase tracking of the characteristic Fourier transform components of the backreflected optical spectrum for evaluation. The temperature sensitivity is on average 20±/∘C with an accuracy of 0.01°C, fully sufficient for biomedical applications. Meanwhile, the four RI sensing (open) cavities show high sensitivity of approximately 1160 nm/RIU. Due to the compact size of the sensor, small spatial inhomogeneities of RI can be accurately detected. If the cavities are additionally filled with molecularly imprinted polymers or coated with thin functional layers, they could also be used for the detection of trace substances in biomedical laboratory-on-a-fiber applications.

We report on fabrication of ridge waveguides formed in congruent periodically poled lithium niobate substrates using annealed and reverse proton exchange followed by diamond blade dicing. 1 W of second-harmonic generation at 775 nm has been obtained in a single-pass in 50 mm long ridge waveguides with internal conversion efficiency of 70%. At this power level, 97% pump depletion has been reached. Although elevated temperature operation and ridge geometry help to mitigate photorefractive damage (PRD) effects, nevertheless, at even higher second harmonic outputs significant power drop with blue shift and distortion of the SHG tuning curve have been observed indicating an onset of PRD.

In this work, we present a fiber sensor designed to measure simultaneously spatial inhomogeneities of the refractive index and temperature in liquid media, for example, induced by biochemical reactions. The sensor's constituent elements are Fabry-Perot microresonators fabricated in standard single-mode optical fibers by diamond blade dicing. To allow simultaneous measurements of different refractive indices, the sensor comprises two open cavities approximately 2 mm apart. With a small Si inlay inserted into one of the resonators used for temperature measurements, the sensor allows for immediate compensation of crosstalk between temperature- and composition-induced fluids' refractive index changes. The measurements were evaluated by phase tracking of the characteristic Fourier transform components of the sensor's backreflected spectra. The temperature sensitivity of the Si inlay is 0.063 rad/°C (79 pm/°C), and an accuracy of 0.01°C is obtained. Meanwhile, the two refractive index sensing (open) cavities show a sensitivity of 1168 and 1153 nm/RIU for temperature-compensated measurements. Finally, the sensor performance to measure spatial distributions is demonstrated by measuring the diffusion behavior of sucrose in water, which allows precise monitoring of hydration effects and breaking of bonds at elevated temperatures.

Abstract: In this work, we report on an investigation of the ytterbium diffusion characteristics in lithium niobate. Ytterbium-doped substrates were prepared by in-diffusion of thin metallic layers coated onto x-and z-cut congruent substrates at different temperatures. The ytterbium profiles were investigated in detail by means of secondary neutral mass spectroscopy, optical microscopy, and optical spectroscopy. Diffusion from an infinite source was used to determine the solubility limit of ytterbium in lithium niobate as a function of temperature. The derived diffusion parameters are of importance for the development of active waveguide devices in ytterbium-doped lithium niobate.