Detection of analyte refractive index and concentration using liquid-core photonic Bragg fibers

We demonstrate detection of liquid analyte refractive index by using a hollow-core photonic Bragg fiber. We apply this fiber sensor to monitor concentrations of commercial cooling oil. The sensor operates on a spectral modality. Variation in the analyte refractive index modifies the bandgap guidance of a fiber, leading to spectral shifts in the fiber transmission spectrum. The sensitivity of the sensor to changes in the analyte refractive index filling in the fiber core is found to be 1460nm/Refractive index unit (RIU). By using the spectral modality and effective medium theory, we determine the concentrations of commercial fluid from the measured refractive indices with an accuracy of ~0.42%. The presented fiber sensor can be used for on-line monitoring of concentration of many industrial fluids and dilutions with sub-1%v accuracy.