Sensors 2009, 9(1), 519-527; doi:10.3390/s90100519
Article

Sensitivity Improvement of a Humidity Sensor Based on Silica Nanospheres on a Long-Period Fiber Grating

Diana Viegas 1,2,* email, Javier Goicoechea 3 email, José Luís Santos 1,2 email, Francisco Moita Araújo 2 email, Luís Alberto Ferreira 2 email, Francisco J. Arregui 3 email and Ignacio R. Matias 3 email
1 -Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, 687, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal 2 INESC Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 378, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal 3 Universidad Pública de Navarra, Campus Arrosadia, 31006 Pamplona, Spain
* Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Received: 29 October 2008; in revised form: 19 December 2008 / Accepted: 15 January 2009 / Published: 16 January 2009
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nanotechnological Advances in Biosensors)
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Abstract: This work addresses a new configuration that improves the sensitivity of a humidity sensor based on a long-period fiber grating coated with a SiO2-nanospheres film. An intermediate higher refractive index overlay, deposited through Electrostatic Self-Assembly, is placed between the fiber cladding and the humidity sensitive film in order to increase the total effective refractive index of the coating. With this intermediate design, a three-fold improvement in the sensitivity was obtained. Wavelength shifts up to 15 nm against 5 nm were achieved in a humidity range from 20% to 80%.
Keywords: Humidity sensor; long-period fiber grating; nanospheres; electrostatic self-assembly

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Cite This Article

MDPI and ACS Style

Viegas, D.; Goicoechea, J.; Santos, J.L.; Araújo, F.M.; Ferreira, L.A.; Arregui, F.J.; Matias, I.R. Sensitivity Improvement of a Humidity Sensor Based on Silica Nanospheres on a Long-Period Fiber Grating. Sensors 2009, 9, 519-527.

AMA Style

Viegas D, Goicoechea J, Santos JL, Araújo FM, Ferreira LA, Arregui FJ, Matias IR. Sensitivity Improvement of a Humidity Sensor Based on Silica Nanospheres on a Long-Period Fiber Grating. Sensors. 2009; 9(1):519-527.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Viegas, Diana; Goicoechea, Javier; Santos, José Luís; Araújo, Francisco Moita; Ferreira, Luís Alberto; Arregui, Francisco J.; Matias, Ignacio R. 2009. "Sensitivity Improvement of a Humidity Sensor Based on Silica Nanospheres on a Long-Period Fiber Grating." Sensors 9, no. 1: 519-527.

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