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A magnetic field sensor based on a Sagnac interferometer using a magnetic fluid-filled birefringent photonic crystal fiber (MF-BPCF) was proposed and studied by finite element method. Two large air holes in the birefringent photonic crystal fiber were designed to fill with magnetic fluid. The MF-BPCF in the proposed Sagnac interferometer acted as the sensing head. As magnetic field perpendicular to the MF-BPCF, magnetic fluid was anisotropic. The characteristics of the output spectrum of the Sagnac interferometer was simulated. The results showed that when the phase difference $\phi$ satisfied integer multiples of $2\pi$ , several dip wavelengths appeared. Not only the intensity but also the direction of the magnetic field was measured. The measuring sensitivity could be further promoted by making the dip wavelength approach $\lambda _{B_g=0}$. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract We propose and investigate a temperature sensor based on Sagnac interferometer with liquid crystal (LC) photonic crystal fiber (PCF) by finite element method (FEM). LC E7 which is anisotropic under electrical field is designed to be infiltrated into the cladding air holes of PCF. The birefringent PCF is then launched into a Sagnac interferometer. The interference spectrum of the Sagnac interferometer is influenced by the thermal effect of LC E7 and thus could be used to measure the temperature. The simulation results show that the temperature measuring sensitivity and resolution reach to 15 nm/K and 6.7E−4 K in the range of 290–320 K. The measuring range and sensitivity could be modified further by optimizing the PCF structure parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The filtering characteristics and applications of photonic crystal fibers being selectively infiltrated with one aluminum rod were investigated based on the finite-element method. The aluminum rod being selectively infiltrated into one cladding air hole acted as a defect core and generated surface plasmon polaritons on its surface. As the phase matching condition was satisfied, the light transferring in fiber core coupled to the surface of the aluminum rod and the confinement losses of core modes experienced an abrupt increase. The filtering characteristics could be modified by adjusting the fiber structure parameters, such as diameters of air holes and the aluminum rod. Two applications of the photonic crystal fibers being selectively infiltrated with one aluminum rod were studied. First, a polarization filter with ultrabroad bandwidth was designed based on the cascaded resonances between fiber core modes and surface plasmon polariton modes. The bandwidth of the polarization filter was as broad as 600 nm covering wavelengths from 1.4 to 2.0 μm. Second, an intensity-type refractive index sensor was designed based on the filtering characteristics. The output power ratio and sensitivity increased as the refractive index of analyte increases and reached to 3.91 dB and 128 dB/RIU in x-polarized direction at the analyte refractive index of 1.37, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract A magnetic field sensor based on magnetic fluids (MFs) selectively infilling photonic crystal fiber (PCF) is designed and analyzed by the finite-element method (FEM). The PCF consists of three-layer air holes in the cladding which are arranged in regular hexagonal lattice. The left and right sides of the fiber core are made up of two larger circular air holes while the upper and below sides are made up of four smaller circular air holes which are benefit to enhance the birefringent effect. MFs are injected into one air hole in the second cladding layer which generates a defect core with high confinement loss. Air holes around the defect core are asymmetrically distributed which can enhance the birefringence of the transmission mode in defect core. When the phase matching condition between core modes and defect core modes is satisfied, the light transmitting in the core couples to the defect core and a sharp decrease of light transmitting energy occurs. The refractive index of defect core modes is modulated by magnetic field strength. The peak wavelengths of confinement loss spectra depicts pretty well linear relationship with magnetic field strength in the detected range of 30–130 Oe. The magnetic field measuring sensitivity reaches to 584 pm/Oe for x-polarized mode and 700 pm/Oe for y-polarized mode, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface plasmon resonance induced tunable broadband polarization filters based on photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) were designed and investigated. The characteristics of the designed PCF were calculated by using the finite element method (FEM). The air holes in the PCFs which were arranged in hexagonal lattice were of the same size except one big air hole. The big air hole which was located on the right side of the fiber core was designed to be coated with gold film in the inner wall. Because of the arrangement of the big air hole, the surface plasmon resonance inspired on the surface of gold film was quite different for the two orthogonal polarized incident lights. As the edge of the big air hole approaching the adjacent air holes, the plasmon modes were influenced strongly by the adjacent air holes and as a results the cascaded resonances appeared. The index-matching liquid infilling in the big air hole was used to adjust the resonant wavelengths and strength. Numerical simulation results showed that the bandwidth of the polarization filter was 1200 nm covering the wavelengths from 1.0 μm to 2.2 μm with high extinction ratio (ER). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]