One-Dimensional Photonic Crystal Inner Coated Hollow Fiber Sensor Based on Bloch Surface Wave With Ultra-High Figure of Merit

A high-performance Bloch surface wave (BSW) sensor based on the hollow fiber (HF) inner coated with the one-dimensional photonic crystal (1DPC) consisting of TiO 2 and SiO 2 bilayers is proposed. Performances including sensitivity and figure of merit (FOM) of the sensor are investigated theoretically with the ray transmission model. Several structure parameters such as the center wavelength of 1DPC, the thickness of the cap layer and the bilayer period are optimized to obtain a best performance of the sensor. The results show that the proposed sensor has an ultra-high FOM over 1100 RIU-1, which is approximately two and one orders of magnitude higher than that of the HF surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor and HF long-range SPR sensor, respectively. Moreover, the proposed sensor has a much broader practical RI detection range, which makes it more useful in sensing applications. The performance of the proposed sensor applicated in temperature sensing is also estimated to prove its application potential.

Automated summary

A high-performance Bloch surface wave sensor based on a hollow fiber inner coated with a one-dimensional photonic crystal is proposed in this study. The sensor exhibits an ultra-high figure of merit and a broader practical refractive index detection range, showing great potential in sensing applications.