Thermal sensing based on whispering gallery modes in tapered-fiber-coupled liquid crystal microdroplets

Yan Wang; Hanyang Li; Liyuan Zhao; Yongjun Liu; Shuangqiang Liu; Jun Yang

doi:10.1117/12.2264901

23 April 2017 Thermal sensing based on whispering gallery modes in tapered-fiber-coupled liquid crystal microdroplets

Yan Wang, Hanyang Li, Liyuan Zhao, Yongjun Liu, Shuangqiang Liu, Jun Yang

Proceedings Volume 10323, 25th International Conference on Optical Fiber Sensors; 1032339 (2017) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2264901
Event: 25th International Conference on Optical Fiber Sensors, 2017, Jeju, Korea, Republic of

Abstract

We report the efficient coupling of optical whispering gallery modes (WGMs) in liquid crystal microdroplets suspended in immiscible aqueous environment. Individual nematic liquid crystal (NLC) microdroplet is confined at the tip of a microcapillary used to generate the microdroplets and coupled through a tapered optical fiber waveguide positioned in the vicinity of the microdroplets. Efficient coupling of WGMs is observed in the NLC microdroplets with a diameter of 50–150 μm. In addition, the wavelengths of the WGMs can be tuned by temperature, making such NLC microdroplets suitable for thermal sensors. A temperature sensitivity of 0.244 nm/°C is achieved in a 75-μm-diameter microdroplet. The estimated thermal resolution of the microdroplet sensor is 8.2 × 10^-2 °C.

Citation Download Citation

Yan Wang, Hanyang Li, Liyuan Zhao, Yongjun Liu, Shuangqiang Liu, and Jun Yang "Thermal sensing based on whispering gallery modes in tapered-fiber-coupled liquid crystal microdroplets", Proc. SPIE 10323, 25th International Conference on Optical Fiber Sensors, 1032339 (23 April 2017); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2264901

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