Micro double tapered optical fiber sensors based on the evanescent field-effect and surface modification

A double tapered optical fiber sensor based on evanescent field-effect and surface modification technology was introduced in this work. Whether the liquid and gas molecules had polarities or not, they all could be detected by the sensors modified in different silane coupling agents. At the same time, the sensing characters of the single mode optical fiber with three different tapering lengths were researched, and it came to a conclusion that the optical fiber sensor had stronger evanescent field effect and higher sensitivity when length of tapered fiber was 30 mm. The functionalized tapered fibers modified by 3-aminopropyltrimethoxy silane (APTES) or 3-methylpropenylacyloxy propyltrimethoxy silane (MPAPTES), were employed to detect the polar or nonpolar molecules which had corresponding features. Further, the results of quantitative tests showed that the fiber optic sensor was sensitive to the change of the ethanol concentration and the characteristic peaks of the absorption power spectra could reach to 3–5 dB.