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Theoretical design of a high sensitivity SPR-based optical fiber pressure sensor

Duarte, D. ; Alberto, N. ; Bilro, L. ; Nogueira, R.N.

Journal of Lightwave Technology Vol. 33, Nº 22, pp. 4606 - 4611, November, 2015.

ISSN (print): 0733-8724
ISSN (online):

Scimago Journal Ranking: 1,60 (in 2015)

Digital Object Identifier: 10.1109/JLT.2015.2477353

Abstract
A theoretical analysis for a new high sensitivity pressure sensor based on the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) phenomenon is presented. The device consists in a thin metal film deposited on the cladding of a U-shaped optical fiber probe embedded in a silicon rubber block. When the block is under pressure, the bending radius will vary and consequently a shift on the SPR wavelength can be noticed and converted to pressure units. Theoretical simulations using the transfer matrix formalism and the N-layer U-shaped fiber model were developed and implemented for three different metals: gold, copper and silver. A resolution of 5.9x10-4, 6.3x10-4 and 1.3x10-3 kPa can be expected for gold, copper and silver, respectively for a working range up to 0.12 MPa. The proposed structure reveals to be suitable to high sensitivity pressure measurements, including industrial operating machinery and R&D applications.