Excitation of Bloch Surface Waves on an Optical Fiber Tip

The integration of structures supporting Bloch surface waves (BSWs) with optical fibers is highly desirable, since it would enable the development of high‐figure‐of‐merit miniaturized all‐fiber optrodes, opening new pathways within the “lab‐on‐fiber” roadmap. Here, the first experimental demonstrati...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Advanced optical materials 2018-10, Vol.6 (19), p.n/a
Main Authors: Scaravilli, Michele, Micco, Alberto, Castaldi, Giuseppe, Coppola, Giuseppe, Gioffrè, Mariano, Iodice, Mario, Ferrara, Vera, Galdi, Vincenzo, Cusano, Andrea
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
diffraction gratings
Excitation
Gratings (spectra)
lab‐on‐fiber
Materials science
optical fiber sensors
Optical fibers
Optics
Photonic crystals
Surface waves
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Summary:The integration of structures supporting Bloch surface waves (BSWs) with optical fibers is highly desirable, since it would enable the development of high‐figure‐of‐merit miniaturized all‐fiber optrodes, opening new pathways within the “lab‐on‐fiber” roadmap. Here, the first experimental demonstration of grating‐assisted excitation of BSWs on the tip of single‐mode fibers in the near‐infrared region is provided. This is attained via fabrication of a 1D diffraction grating on the fiber facet, and subsequent deposition of a 1D photonic crystal. In spite of a resonance broadening due to grating‐induced morphological perturbations, the measured Q‐factor of 50 is still higher than typical lab‐on‐tip plasmonic‐probe benchmarks. With a view toward biomolecular sensing, a surface sensitivity of 1.22 nm nm−1 of homogeneous overlay deposited over the active region, which is in line with most plasmonic optrodes largely used in connection with optical fibers, is evaluated. The results also highlight the current limitations and the challenges to face for the development of advanced BSW‐based fiber‐tip platforms for biological sensing applications. Via the integration of a diffraction grating and a photonic crystal on the tip of an optical fiber, the first experimental evidence of on‐fiber excitation of a Bloch surface wave is provided. The observed surface sensitivity is in line with typical lab‐on‐tip plasmonic‐probe benchmarks, whereas the resonance quality factor is higher.
ISSN:2195-1071
2195-1071
DOI:10.1002/adom.201800477