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A novel photonic crystal fiber (PCF) sensor for refractive index detection based on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is presented in this research, as well as designs for single-channel and dual-channel structures for this PDMS-PCF sensor. The proposed structures can be used to develop sensors with biocompatible polymers. The performance of the single-channel PDMS-PCF sensor was studied, and it was found that adjusting parameters such as pore diameter, lattice constant, distance between the D-shaped structure and the fiber core, and the radius of gold nanoparticles can optimize the sensor's performance. The findings indicate that the detection range of the single-channel photonic crystal is 1.21–1.27. The maximum wavelength sensitivity is 10,000 nm/RIU with a resolution of 1 × 10 − 5 RIU, which is gained when the refractive index is set to 1.27. Based on the results of the single-channel PCF, a dual-channel PDMS-PCF sensor is designed. The refractive index detection range of the proposed sensor is 1.2–1.28. The proposed sensor has a maximum wavelength sensitivity of 13,000 nm/RIU and a maximum resolution of 7.69 × 10 − 6 RIU at a refractive index of 1.28. The designed PDMS-PCF holds tremendous potential for applications in the analysis and detection of substances in the human body in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A fiber-optics tapered sensor that is covered by an electrospinning polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanofiber film, is demonstrated to measure humidity and temperature simultaneously. A section multi-mode fiber (MMF) was sandwiched between two leading-in and out single mode fibers (SMFs), which was further tapered down to 29 μm to promote the humidity sensitivity of the sensor. A thin layer of electrospinning PVA nanofiber film was uniformly coated on the MMF taper region by electrospinning technology. In order to promote the humidity sensitivity and mechanical strength of electrospinning nanofibers, the carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were mixed into PVA to formed PVA/CNTs composite nanofiber film. A Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) was cascaded with the humidity sensing fiber to monitor the ambient temperature simultaneously. The addition of CNTs effectively eliminated the cracks on the electrospinning nanofiber and made it more uniform and smoother. As experimental results show, the humidity sensitivity of the sensor with PVA/CNTs film was 0.0484 dB/%RH, an improvement of 31.16% compared to that of the sensor with PVA film, for which sensitivity is 0.0369 dB/%RH. The nanofiber humidity-sensitive film constructed using electrospinning had a satisfactory humidity response, special 3D structure and extensive application prospect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]