Overview of micro- and nano-structured surface plasmon resonance fiber sensors

Abstract

We overview the micro- and nano-structured optical fiber sensors, directly associated with surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensing. Fiber sensors combined with SPR technologies offer a new route to improving the sensing capability. Various approaches have been exploited and optimized. For example, D-shape, cladding-off, and tapered fiber structures as well as dielectric or metallic gratings have been introduced. These micro- and nano-structured SPR fiber sensors have received much attention due to their high sensitivity, sensor miniaturization, and the flexibility of optical fibers. Key issues for fiber SPR sensors are low loss and high overlap with sensing medium. These fiber sensors with the use of SPR have been continually studied for chemical and bio-sensing. In this chapter we will review the current status of these micro- and nano-structured optical SPR fiber sensors.