Measurement of the optical absorption coefficient for liquid based on optical microfiber

An inline measuring method of the optical absorption coefficient for liquid based on optical microfiber (OM) is studied. If an OM is immersed into absorptive liquid, the additional loss of the OM will increase. We have analyzed the relationship between the additional loss of the OMs and the absorption coefficients of the liquids, and found that the OM with determinate construction will be useful for measuring the absorption coefficients of the liquid whose refractive index is lower than that of the OM. Two OM samples are prepared to measure the absorption coefficient of pure water. A supercontinuum source is launched into the OM sample which is immersed into pure water, and absorption spectrum from 1400 to 1700 nm has been achieved by monitoring the additional loss. The trend of the absorption spectrum is similar with that of the reported result, showing that the inline measurement of the optical absorption coefficient is a feasible method for those lower refractive index liquids.