Fiber-pigtailed temperature sensors based on dielectric-loaded plasmonic waveguide-ring resonators

Opt Express. 2011 Dec 19;19(27):26423-8. doi: 10.1364/OE.19.026423.

Abstract

We demonstrate optical fiber-pigtailed temperature sensors based on dielectric-loaded surface plasmon-polariton waveguide-ring resonators (DLSPP-WRRs), whose transmission depends on the ambient temperature. The DLSPP-WRR-based temperature sensors represent polymer ridge waveguides (~1×1 µm(2) in cross section) forming 5-µm-radius rings coupled to straight waveguides fabricated by UV-lithography on a 50-nm-thick gold layer atop a 2.3-µm-thick CYTOP layer covering a Si wafer. A broadband light source is used to characterize the DLSPP-WRR wavelength-dependent transmission in the range of 1480-1600 nm and to select the DLSPP-WRR component for temperature sensing. In- and out-coupling single-mode optical fibers are then glued to the corresponding access (photonic) waveguides made of 10-µm-wide polymer ridges. The sample is heated from 21°C to 46 °C resulting in the transmission change of ~0.7 dB at the operation wavelength of ~1510 nm. The minimum detectable temperature change is estimated to be ~5.1∙10(-3) °C for the bandwidth of 1 Hz when using standard commercial optical detectors.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Electric Impedance
  • Equipment Design
  • Equipment Failure Analysis
  • Fiber Optic Technology / instrumentation*
  • Surface Plasmon Resonance / instrumentation*
  • Thermography / instrumentation*
  • Transducers*