Packaging and Characteristics of a Tapered Fiber Sensor for Refractive-Index Measurements

In this study, we demonstrate the design and fabrication of a tapered fiber sensor with a sensing application based on a new (high-sensitivity) package. We study the effect of various geometric parameters such as the uniform segment diameter, the uniform segment length, and the incident angle of the optical wave on the tapered fiber sensor sensitivity for evanescent sensing. Our study shows that high sensitivity of the tapered fiber can be realized by optimizing its parameters. In addition, we design a novel packaging of a tapered-fiber sensor, which can efficiently ensure a uniform stress and reduce the cross sensitivity caused by stress in liquid detection using a tapered fiber sensor. We report the experimental results obtained using this tapered fiber sensor for refractive-index measurements. As the refractive index of liquids varies from 1.417 to 1.423, the measurement results show that the refractive-index sensitivity of the tapered fiber sensor is as high as 4860 nm/RIU.