title: Pulsed laser deposited ZnO film on side-polished fiber as a gas sensing element.
abstract: A simple sensor element consisting of a side-polished single-mode fiber and a planar metal oxide waveguide is described. The thin ZnO planar waveguide was produced on the polished fiber surface by pulsed laser deposition at optimized processing parameters. A measurement scheme for in situ control of the film thickness during the deposition process was developed and used. X-ray diffraction measurements and scanning electron microscopy were used to characterize the structure and the surface morphology of the planar waveguide, respectively. The numerical evaluation of the sensor sensitivity predicts the possibility to detect refractive index changes of less than 10(-4). Furthermore, preliminary gas sensor tests were performed by using a mixture of 1.5% butane diluted in N(2) and pure butane. A shift of the spectral position of the resonance points was observed from 3 to 5 s after gas exposure, which corresponds to refractive index changes of 3 x 10(-5) and 1.2 x 10(-3) for 1.5% butane and for pure butane, respectively.
authors: Institute of Electronics, Bulgarian Academyof Sciences, 72 Tsarigradsko Chaussee, 1784 Sofia, Bulgaria. dikovska@ie.bas.bg
authors: Anna Og
authors: AO
authors: Dikovska
authors: Petar A
authors: PA
authors: Atanasov
authors: Toshko R
authors: TR
authors: Stoyanchov
authors: Andrey T
authors: AT
authors: Andreev
authors: Elka I
authors: EI
authors: Karakoleva
authors: Blagovesta S
authors: BS
authors: Zafirova
mesh_terms: D002073:Butanes / Q000032:analysis*; D003460:Crystallization / Q000379:methods; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005336:Fiber Optic Technology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D005740:Gases / Q000032:analysis; D007834:Lasers; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; D012031:Refractometry / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D014159:Transducers; D015034:Zinc Oxide / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D002073:Butanes; D005740:Gases; D008567:Membranes, Artificial; C046888:butane; D015034:Zinc Oxide