Birefringent waveguide sensor using a polarizer rotating technique

A birefringence measurement system is introduced to get high phase resolution for detection of low contents of biochemicals. By using a fixed quarter-wave plate and a rotating polarizer, the phase difference between two orthogonal polarizations is transformed into phase delay of output sinusoidal si...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Optics letters 2009-07, Vol.34 (13), p.2045-2047
Main Authors: SON, Geun-Sik, KIM, Woo-Kyung, YANG, Woo-Seok, LEE, Hyung-Man, LEE, Han-Young, LEE, Sung-Dong, JEONG, Woo-Jin, KWON, Soon-Woo, KIM, Ye-Na, LEE, Sang-Shin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Birefringence
Exact sciences and technology
General equipment and techniques
Instruments, apparatus, components and techniques common to several branches of physics and astronomy
Optical instruments, equipment and techniques
Physics
Polarimeters and ellipsometers
Refractometry - instrumentation
Refractometry - methods
Rotation
Sensors (chemical, optical, electrical, movement, gas, etc.)
remote sensing
Surface Properties
Titanium
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Summary:A birefringence measurement system is introduced to get high phase resolution for detection of low contents of biochemicals. By using a fixed quarter-wave plate and a rotating polarizer, the phase difference between two orthogonal polarizations is transformed into phase delay of output sinusoidal signal. Analyzing the output phase, birefringence change could be detected with a phase noise of 0.14 degrees. As well as the birefringence measurement system, an optical evanescent waveguide sensor was developed. A rib-type silica waveguide overlaid with TiO2 film was fabricated, and a developed birefringence measurement technique was employed in evaluating a refractive index change on waveguide surface. For the fabricated waveguide with a 40-nm-thick TiO2 film, experiment results showed that the minimum detectable index change was 5.9x10(-7).
ISSN:0146-9592
1539-4794
DOI:10.1364/OL.34.002045