Advanced optical fibre gratings for nano-structural characterisation and biosensing applications

Abstract

This thesis presents detailed investigation on the fabrication, spectral characterisation and applications of UV-inscribed optical fibre gratings devices. Of prominent significance is the characterisation of the optical fibre gratings devices with nanoparticles and biological recognition elements for novel developments in the field of optical biosensing. A major contribution detailed in this thesis is the systematic study on fabrication, spectral characterisation and applications of different UV-inscribed in-fibre gratings. Specifically, uniform and apodized Fibre Bragg gratings (FBGs), normal and dual-peak long period fibre gratings (LPFGs), small-angle tilted fibre gratings (S-TFGs) and excessively tilted fibre gratings (Ex-TFGs) are presented. The holographic, phase-mask scanning and point-by-point methods are employed to fabricate these advanced optical fibre gratings using 244nm frequency-doubled Ar+ laser. Particular emphasis is laid on fabrication of dual-peak LPFGs in SMF-28 and thin-cladding single mode fibres of grating periods 140μm and 300μm respectively. Also, Ex-TFGs of different tilt angles are inscribed in single mode fibres using amplitude masks of different periods: 5.0μm, 6.6μm and 25μm. Another important contribution from this study is the nano-structural characterisation of the in-fibre gratings with nanoparticles such as carbon nanotubes (CNT), zinc oxide (ZnO) and gold nanoparticles for power demodulation, sensitivity enhancement and polarisation dependent SPR excitation respectively. Refractive index (RI) sensors based on 81° Ex-TFGs with carbon nanotube (CNT) overlay deposition have been investigated. The CNT, a dark material, with high absorption of light and high RI is responsible for the power demodulation of the attenuation band while the 81°-TFG induces the wavelength shift as the surrounding medium RI changes. Results show high sensitivities of 557.29 nm/RIU and 95.54 dB/RIU for the wavelength shift and power demodulation respectively. Also, nano-deposition of zinc oxide (ZnO) on Ex-TFGs inscribed in two different fibre types has been investigated using dissimilar morphologies (direct ZnO overlay and PSZnO overlay) for enhanced RI sensing. Significant improvement in sensitivity of ~ 21% (~ 522 nm/RIU) is obtained. The polarisation dependence of Au-coated S-TFGs on excitation of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) has also been investigated. Finally, the in-fibre gratings are surface-functionalized with bioreceptor elements such as enzymes (glucose oxidase) and antibody/antigen (Trx, IL-6). Enzyme functionalized biosensor based on dual-peak LPFG has been investigated for sugar concentration level and specific glucose detection and high sensitivities of ~4.67 nm/% and 12.21 ± 0.19 nm/ (mg/ml) are obtained respectively. Also, fibre optic biosensors based on antibodyfunctionalized 81º-TFGs have been presented for label-free specific recognition of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and thioredoxin (Trx) proteins. High saturation values (∧λ max ) of 35.05nm and 33.19nm are obtained respectively. The specificity validation of the biosensors in the presence of other interfering proteins is investigated using human plasma and results show high specificity.