Optical and Quantum Electronics 28 (1996) 1629-1639

Fibre-optic evanescent field absorption

sensor based on a U-shaped probe

B. D. G U P T A , H. D O D E J A , A. K. T O M A R
Physics Department, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi - 110016, India

Received 4 December 1995; revised 9 April; accepted 12 April 1996

A fibre-optic evanescent field absorption sensor based on a U-shaped sensing probe is

described. The influences of fibre core diameter, bending radius of the probe and the
refractive index of the fluid on the sensitivity of the sensor are evaluated experimentally.
The results are compared with the theoretical results obtained using geometrical optics
and based on two-dimensional treatment. A good qualitative agreement is found
between them.

1. Introduction
In the past few years, evanescent field fibre-optic absorption sensors have received considerable
attention due to their widespread applications in continuous monitoring of concentrations of
reactants in chemical processes and in the study of the absorption spectra of liquids and pastes
[1-14]. Further, these sensors can be used in the chemical industry for distributed sensing, as
well as for sensing at isolated locations. Much of the research to date on evanescent field fibre-
optic absorption sensors has used plastic-clad silica (PCS) fibres. These sensors are based on
attenuated total reflection (ATR) spectroscopy. In ATR spectroscopy, plastic cladding is
removed from the middle portion of the fibre and the exposed core is surrounded by an absorb-
ing fluid. The light is launched from one end of the fibre and is detected at the other end. The
transmitted power depends on the absorption of the evanescent field penetrating into the clad-
ding region formed by the absorbing fluid. Thus, the presence of the fluid and its concentration
are determined by observing the transmitted power through the fibre. The evanescent field
absorption, for a given length of the unclad fibre, depends on the number of ray reflections
per unit length of the unclad fibre and the penetration depth of the evanescent field in the
sensing region. The penetration depth is given by:
A
dp = 27rnl (sin2 0 - sin 2 0c) 1/2 (1)

where A is the free space wavelength of the light launched into the fibre, nl is the refractive
index of the core, Oc = [sin-l(nE/nl)] is the critical angle of the sensing region with respect
to the normal on core-cladding interface, n 2 is the refractive index of the absorbing cladding
(fluid), and 0 is the angle of the ray with the normal to the core-cladding interface. As 0
approaches Oc, the penetration depth increases, which results in the increase in evanescent
absorption and hence the sensitivity of the sensor. In practice, n 2 < nel, ncl is the refractive
index of the cladding (plastic) and, therefore, the numerical aperture of the sensing region is

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 B. D. Gupta et al.

higher than that of the fibre. In other words, the critical angle of the fibre is higher than that of
the sensing region. Thus, 0 of a guided ray in the fibre cannot approach 0c of the sensing region
if the sensing region is straight and uniform in diameter. Hence, one cannot achieve significant
evanescent field penetration in the sensing region, and as such the sensitivity of the sensor is
limited. To increase the sensitivity, the use of selective ray launching in the fibre [7, 12] and
tapering of the sensing region have been suggested [8, 14]. In the selective launching, the
sensitivity is increased by launching only those rays which make angles close to the critical
angle of the sensing region; while in the case of taper the angle of a ray approaches the critical
angle as it propagates. The angle of the ray can also be brought close to the critical angle of the
sensing region if the sensing part of the fibre is bent. Based on this, fibre-optic refractive index
sensors with a U-shaped probe have been reported in the literature [15-17].
In the present paper we have carried out a detailed experimental study of the fibre-optic
evanescent wave absorption sensor based on the U-shaped sensing region. The performance
of the sensor has been studied with different fibre core radii, bending radii of the fibre, refract-
ive indices and concentrations of the dye in the solvents. It has been shown that the sensitivity
of the sensor increases with decreasing bending radius of the probe and also with the increase in
refractive index of the fluid. To compare experimental results we have evaluated the character-
istics of the sensor with a geometrical optics approach based on a two-dimensional treatment.
The experimental and theoretical results have been found to match qualitatively.

2. Theory
Consider a step index multimode optical fibre whose cladding has been replaced locally by an
absorbing fluid. If P0 is the power transmitted by the fibre in the absence of an absorbing fluid,
then the power transmitted by the fibre in the presence of the fluid is given by:
P = Po exp(-TL) (2)
where L is the length of the unclad portion of the fibre and 7 is the evanescent absorption coef-
ficient of the fluid. In the case of a ray making an angle, O, with the normal to the core-cladding
interface in the sensing region, 7 is given by [18]:
c~)~n2 cos/9 cot 0
7(0) ----27rpn21cos2 0c (cos 2 0c _ cos2 0 sin 2 0r (3)

where 0~ is the skewness angle, c~ is the bulk absorption coefficient of the fluid and p is the
radius of the fibre core. It may be noted from Equation 3 that for a fixed value of 0, the
evanescent absorption coefficient is maximum when the ray is meridional (i.e. 0~ -- 7r/2). It
decreases with the increase in skewness. Recently, we have shown [I0] that if the refractive
index of the absorbing fluid does not vary significantly with the concentration, c, of the fluid
within the desired concentration range, then the sensitivity [ - 1 / P (dP/dc)] of the sensor is
proportional to L,~/a. Thus, for a given L, 3'/a directly defines the sensitivity. It means that
the sensitivity will be maximum if the meridional rays are launched in the fibre. To propagate
meridional rays in the fibre, light is launched into the fibre from a collimated source (such as a
laser) using a microscope objective. The objective is used to focus the beam onto the fibre end
face at the axial point. The numerical aperture of the objective is assumed to be greater than
that of the fibre, so that all the bound rays can be excited in the fibre. For such an illumination,
the power, dP, arriving at the axial point on the fibre end face between angles 00 and 00 + d00 is
proportional to (tan 00/cos 2 00)d00, where 00 is the angle of the ray with the axis outside the
fibre [18]. Using Snell's law and 0 = 90 ~ - 01, where 0, is the angle of the same ray with

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