A Refractive Index and Temperature Sensor Based on Surface Plasmon Resonance in an Exposed-Core Microstructured Optical Fiber

A surface plasmon resonance sensor is proposed to simultaneously realize the refractive index (RI) and temperature sensing in an exposed-core microstructured optical fiber. Two orthogonal sensing channels coated with silver layers are designed to distinguish the variations of the analyte RI and the temperature. The exposed section of the fiber as an RI sensing channel supports a y-polarized peak. The orthogonally arranged hole is filled with a large thermooptic coefficient liquid as a temperature sensing channel that supports a x-polarized peak. The two polarized peaks can be shifted independently. By following the shifts of the two polarized peaks, the variations of the RI and temperature can be detected simultaneously.