Investigation of Fiber Optic Sensor based on Surface Plasmon Resonance for Sensing Applications

Abstract

Surface plasmon resonance together with optical fiber technology has emerged as an encouraging application of optical bio-sensing in the present circumstances. It has made a significant contribution to certain measures in medical diagnosis. This technique permits the instant and extremely sensitive recognition of biological samples, with utilizations in medical diagnostics, ecological monitoring, and agriculture science etc. Surface plasmon resonance is most sought after technique with wide spread uses in the recognition of molecular biology interactions but certain modifications are necessary for both refractive index (RI) sensitivity and in-vivo uses for many scientific applications. Sensors manufactured using optical fiber offer significant advantages over traditional platforms, such as simple manufacturing process, small size and possibility for in situ and remote measurements. In present scenario, surface plasmon resonance technology has been incorporated into optical fiber for sensing applications. SPR technology is basically an optical phenomenon and involves the coating of metallic nanostructure materials of SPR nobel metals e.g. gold, silver, copper etc on optical fiber core. SPR has turn out as most important optical bio-sensing technique in the field of bio-chemistry and medicine science. The research presented in this thesis focuses on the optical fiber sensor based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) technique for sensing applications. Metallic nanostructure material, when embedded on the core of fiber may be designed to support plasmonic resonance phenomenon and is usually perceptive to the sensing sample refractive index (RI). In the sensing region, various types of analyte such as glucose etc are used to test the sensing performance of the sensor.