Enhanced Relative Humidity Sensing Based on a Tapered Fiber Bragg Grating with Zinc Oxide Nanostructure-Embedded Coatings
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2017
Abstract
A novel concept for an intrinsic relative humidity (RH) sensor that uses a tapered fiber Bragg grating (FBG) with zinc oxide nanostructure-embedded coatings is presented. Tests in a controlled environment indicate that the sensor has a linear and stable response behavior at 55% to 80% RH. The tapered FBG is fabricated using a chemical etching method followed by the coating of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures onto the surface of the taper. Experimental results show that the ZnO coated FBG produced a better sensitivity of 2.51 pm/% in comparison to only 1.36 pm/% for the uncoated FBG in terms of its Bragg wavelength shift. The performance of the humidity sensor in regards to the reflected output power is also presented, showing a significant improvement in sensitivity from 0.0012 dBm/% for bare tapered fiber to 0.089 dBm/% with the ZnO coating. These results indicate the potential of ZnO nanostructures coating in enhancing the performance of the sensor for relative humidity sensing.
Keywords
Fiber bragg grating (FBG), Humidity sensor, Tapered FBG, Zinc oxide, ZnO nanostructures
Divisions
fac_eng,CHEMISTRY
Funders
Universiti Teknologi MARA Internal Research Grant ARAS (Grant No. 600-RMI/DANA 5/3/ARAS (2/2015)) and LESTARI (Grant No. 600-RMI/DANA 5/3/LESTARI (27/2015)
Publication Title
Advanced Science Letters
Volume
23
Issue
6
Publisher
American Scientific Publishers