Low cost sensors based on SPR in a plastic optical fiber for biosensor implementation

• Published in: Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 11; no. 12; pp. 11752 - 11760
• Main Authors: Cennamo, Nunzio, Massarotti, Davide, Conte, Laura, Zeni, Luigi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 01-12-2011; Molecular Diversity Preservation International (MDPI)
• Subjects: Accuracy; Biosensing Techniques; Biosensors; Optical Fibers; Plastic Optical Fibers (POF); Plastics; Propagation; Sensors; Signal to noise ratio; Surface Plasmon Resonance; Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR); Italy; biosensors; Plastic Optical Fibers (POF); Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR)
• ISSN: 1424-8220; 1424-8220
• DOI: 10.3390/s111211752

This paper reports the fabrication and testing of two configurations of optical sensor systems based on Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) at the interface of a liquid sample and sandwiched structures realized starting from the exposed core of a Plastic Optical Fiber (POF). The proposed geometries have proven to be suitable for measuring the refractive indexes of liquids whose refractive index falls around 1.35. Furthermore, the proposed sensing head, being low cost and relatively easy to realize, may be very attractive for biosensor implementation.