Hybrid porous core photonic crystal fiber sensor for monitoring nitrous oxide gas

This paper presents the design and simulation of hybrid porous core photonic crystal fiber (HPC-PCF) for monitoring nitrous oxide (N2O) gas. The design, numerical simulation and optimization process have been accomplished by utilizing COMSOL Multiphysics software and finite element method. The simulation results show the relative sensitivity of 27% and confinement loss of 0.0034 dB/m at lambda = 5 mu m absorption wavelength of N2O gas. In this design, we consider a spectral band of wavelength from 4.6 mu m to 5.6 mu m because the absorption wavelength of N2O gas having the value of 5 mu m is suitably matched to this range. In addition, highly birefringent HPC-PCF design is more capable for separating the light polarizations and its high numerical aperture allows strong gathering of light into the core, which further reduces the confinement loss.