Optical fibers evanescent wave sensor

Sol-gel coating technique for optical chemical sensors and biosensors is now in extensive research phase. For example, the side-coating of optical fibers or waveguides in evanescent-wave sensors it is particularly important to control precisely the sensitivity determining parameters, such as the coating thickness and length45. 

The fiber optic evanescent wave sensor (FO-EWS) belongs to a sensor in which the fiber core interacts with the analyte. This interaction occurs through the attenuated total reflection (ATR) and the evanescent wave excitation in a dielectric medium of smaller refractive index in the vicinity of fiber core. If the surrounding medium is fluorescent, then the fluorescence signal in the reaction region of evanescent wave field is excited and detected. This is illustrated in Figure 8.2. 

DeMarco DV, Lim DV (2001) Direct detection of escherichia coliol57 h7 in unpasterized apple juice with an evanescent wave sensor. J Rapid Meth Automation Micro 9 241-257 Diez A, Andres MV, Cruz JL (2001) In-line fiber-optic sensors based on the excitation of surface plasma modes in metal-coated tapered fibers. Sensors Actuators B Chem 73 95-99 Dostalek J, Ctyroky J, Homola J, Brynda E, Skalsky M, Nekvindova P, Spirkova J, Skvor J, Schrofel J (2001) Surface plasmon resonance biosensor based on integrated optical waveguide. Sensors Actuators B Chem 76 8-12... 

Khijwania, S. K., Srinivasan, K. L., and Singh, J. P. 2005. An evanescent-wave optical fiber relative humidity sensor with enhanced sensitivity. Sensors and Actuators B Chemical 104 217-222. 

J.-P. Conzen, J. Biirck, H. J. Ache, "Characterisation of a fiber optic evanescent wave sensor for non-polar organic compounds", Appl. Spectrosc. 47(6) (1993) 753 - 763. 

A novel fiber optic sensor concept using antibody-antigen reactions at a glass-liquid interface was reported by Daehne146. The reaction of antibodies immobilized onto the surface of fused silica fiber optic or planar waveguides with antigens in solution was detected by interaction with the evanescent wave. By detecting in-line fluorescence, the measurement of human IgG is described. 

Matejec V., Chomat M., Pospisilova M., Hayer M., Kasik I. Optical fiber with novel geometry for evanescent-wave sensing, Sensors Actuators (1995) B 29, pp. 416-422. 

Gupta B.D., Sharma A., Singh C.D., Fiber optic evanescent-wave absorption sensors based on uniform and tapered fibers, Proc. 2nd Europtrode (1994), Firenze, p.189. 

The fabrication and characterization of a fiber optic pH sensor based on evanescent wave absorption was presented by Lee63. The unclad portion of a multi-mode optical fibre was coated with the sol-gel doped with pH sensitive dye. The sensitivity of the device increased when the multiple sol-gel coatings were used in the sensing region. The dynamic range and the temporal response of the sensor were investigated for two different dyes -bromocresol purple and bromocresol green. 

B.D. Gupta and D.K. Sharma, Evanescent wave absorption based fiber optic pH sensor prepared by dye doped sol-gel immobilization technique, Opt. Commun., 140(1-3) (1997) 32-35. 

S. Sekimoto, H. Nakagawa, S. Okazaki, K. Fukuda, S. Asakura, T Shigemori, and S. Takahashi, A fiber-optic evanescent-wave hydrogen gas sensor using palladium-supported tungsten oxide. Sensors Actuators B 66(1-3), 142-145 (2000). 

A fiber-optic device has been described that can monitor chlorinated hydrocarbons in water (Gobel et al. 1994). The sensor is based on the diffusion of chlorinated hydrocarbons into a polymeric layer surrounding a silver halide optical fiber through which is passed broad-band mid-infrared radiation. The chlorinated compounds concentrated in the polymer absorb some of the radiation that escapes the liber (evanescent wave) this technique is a variant of attenuated total reflection (ATR) spectroscopy. A LOD for chloroform was stated to be 5 mg/L (5 ppm). This sensor does not have a high degree of selectivity for chloroform over other chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons, but appears to be useful for continuous monitoring purposes. 

Seo et al. (1999) used a planar optic biosensor that measures the phase shift variation in refractive index due to antigen binding to antibody. In this method, they were able to detect S. enterica serovar T) himurium with a detection limit of 1 x 10 cfu/ml. When chicken carcass fluid was inoculated with 20 cfu/ml, the sensor was able to detect this pathogen after 12 h of nonselective enrichment. A compact fiber optic sensor was also used for detection of S. T) himurium at a detection limit of 1 X 10" cfu/ml (Zhou et al., 1997, 1998) however, its efficacy with food samples is unproven. Later, Kramer and Lim (2004) used the fiber optic sensor, RAPTOR , to detect this pathogen from spent irrigation water for alfalfa sprouts. They showed that the system can be used to detect Salmonella spiked at 50 cfu/g seeds. An evanescent wave-based multianalyte array biosensor (MAAB) was also employed for successful testing of chicken excreta and various food samples (sausage, cantaloupe, egg, sprout, and chicken carcass) for S. T) himurium (Taitt et ah, 2004). While some samples exhibited interference with the assay, overall, the detection limit for this system was reported to be 8 x 10 cfu/g. 

Fluorescence from labeled adsorbed protein has also been excited with the evanescent surface wave created by integrated optics. Both optical fiber I60) and flat rectangular waveguides193) have been used. Interesting use of optical fiber as a remote protein sensor was demonstated the excitation light was sent down the fiber whose tip was immersed in protein solution, evanescently excited fluorescence was collected by the same fiber and delivered to a scanning monochromator 160). 

OF optical fibers, IOS integrated optical sensors, A absorbance, R reflectance, F fluorescence, ev evanescent wave, ISP isopropyl alcohol, DOS bis(2-ethylhexyl)sebacate, o - NPOE ortho-nitrophenyl octyl ether, TOP tris(2-ethylhexyl)phosphate... 

Luminescent evanescent wave-based sensors use optical fibers and planar waveguides [105,106] as fight-guiding structures, and they are more complex than the absorbance ones. However, such optodes have been satisfactorily applied to measure fluorescence of indicators or labels for the measurement of gas molecules, proteins or labeled antigen-antibody interactions as well as directly in solution [24,107] when immobilized in matrices [23,109]. 

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