Zeolite thin film-coated long period fiber grating sensor for measuring trace chemical.

This paper reports the development of a new zeolite thin film-coated long period fiber grating (LPFG) sensor for direct measurement of trace organic vapors. The sensor was fabricated by growing pure silica MFI-type zeolite thin film on the optical fiber grating by in situ hydrothermal crystallization. The sensor measures chemical vapor concentration by monitoring the molecular adsorption-induced shift of LPFG resonant wavelength (lambda(R)) in near infrared (IR) region. Upon loading analyte molecules, the zeolite's refractive index changes in the close vicinity of the fiber index where the LPFG has a large response to achieve high sensitivity.