Optical Waveguide BTX Gas Sensor Based on Polyacrylate Resin Thin Film

An optical sensor sensitive to BTX has been developed by spin coating a thin film of polyacrylate resin onto a tin- diffused glass optical waveguide. A pair of prism coupler was employed for optical coupling matched with diiodomethane (CH2I2). The guided wave transmits in waveguide layer and passes through the film as an evanescent wave. Polyacrylate film has a strong capacity of absorbing oil gases. The film is stable in N2 but benzene exposure at room temperature can result in rapid and reversible changes of transmittance (T) and refractive index (n1) of this film. It has been demonstrated that the sensor containing a 10 mm board and about a hundred nanometers thick resin film can detect lower than 8 ppm BTX.