Center for Photonics Technology

Permanent URI for this community

https://hdl.handle.net/10919/24790
The Center for Photonics Technology at Virginia Tech is focused on innovation in fiber optics, fiber optic sensors, and biomedical and applied optics. With five faculty and over 30 students and research staff, CPT is a world leader in fiber optic sensor research.

Browse

Browsing Center for Photonics Technology by Department "Electrical and Computer Engineering"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    Behavior of Random Hole Optical Fibers under Gamma Ray Irradiation and Its Potential Use in Radiation Sensing Applications
    Alfeeli, Bassam; Pickrell, Gary R.; Garland, Marc; Wang, Anbo (MDPI, 2007-05-24)
    Effects of radiation on sensing and data transmission components are of greatinterest in many applications including homeland security, nuclear power generation, andmilitary. A new type of microstructured optical fiber (MOF) called the random hole opticalfiber (RHOF) has been recently developed. The RHOFs can be made in many differentforms by varying the core size and the size and extent of porosity in the cladding region.The fibers used in this study possessed an outer diameter of 110 _m and a core ofapproximately 20 _m. The fiber structure contains thousands of air holes surrounding thecore with sizes ranging from less than 100 nm to a few _m. We present the first study ofthe behavior of RHOF under gamma irradiation. We also propose, for the first time to ourknowledge, an ionizing radiation sensor system based on scintillation light from ascintillator phosphor embedded within a holey optical fiber structure. The RHOF radiationresponse was compared to normal single mode and multimode commercial fibers(germanium doped core, pure silica cladding) and to those of radiation resistant fibers (puresilica core with fluorine doped cladding fibers). The comparison was done by measuringradiation-induced absorption (RIA) in all fiber samples at the 1550 nm wavelength window(1545 25 nm). The study was carried out under a high-intensity gamma ray field from a 60Co source (with an exposure rate of 4x104 rad/hr) at an Oak Ridge National Laboratory gamma ray irradiation facility. Linear behavior, at dose values less than 106 rad, was observed in all fiber samples except in the pure silica core fluorine doped cladding fiber which showed RIA saturation at 0.01 dB. RHOF samples demonstrated low RIA (0.02 and 0.005 dB) compared to standard germanium doped core pure silica cladding (SMF and MMF) fibers. Results also showed the possibility of post-fabrication treatment to improve the radiation resistance of the RHOF fibers.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Photonic Biosensor Assays to Detect and Distinguish Subspecies of Francisella tularensis
    Cooper, Kristie L.; Bandara, Aloka B.; Wang, Yunmiao; Wang, Anbo; Inzana, Thomas J. (MDPI, 2011-03-07)
    The application of photonic biosensor assays to diagnose the category-A select agent Francisella tularensis was investigated. Both interferometric and long period fiber grating sensing structures were successfully demonstrated; both these sensors are capable of detecting the optical changes induced by either immunological binding or DNA hybridization. Detection was made possible by the attachment of DNA probes or immunoglobulins (IgG) directly to the fiber surface via layer-by-layer electrostatic self-assembly. An optical fiber biosensor was tested using a standard transmission mode long period fiber grating of length 15 mm and period 260 µm, and coated with the IgG fraction of antiserum to F. tularensis. The IgG was deposited onto the optical fiber surface in a nanostructured film, and the resulting refractive index change was measured using spectroscopic ellipsometry. The presence of F. tularensis was detected from the decrease of peak wavelength caused by binding of specific antigen. Detection and differentiation of F. tularensis subspecies tularensis (type A strain TI0902) and subspecies holarctica (type B strain LVS) was further accomplished using a single-mode multi-cavity fiber Fabry-Perot interferometric sensor. These sensors were prepared by depositing seven polymer bilayers onto the fiber tip followed by attaching one of two DNA probes: (a) a 101-bp probe from the yhhW gene unique to type-A strains, or (b) a 117-bp probe of the lpnA gene, common to both type-A and type-B strains. The yhhW probe was reactive with the type-A, but not the type-B strain. Probe lpnA was reactive with both type-A and type-B strains. Nanogram quantities of the target DNA could be detected, highlighting the sensitivity of this method for DNA detection without the use of PCR. The DNA probe reacted with 100% homologous target DNA, but did not react with sequences containing 2-bp mismatches, indicating the high specificity of the assay. These assays will fill an important void that exists for rapid, culture-free, and field-compatible diagnosis of F. tularensis.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Quantitative phase spectroscopy
    Rinehart, M.; Zhu, Y.; Wax, A. (2012-05-01)
    Quantitative phase spectroscopy is presented as a novel method of measuring the wavelength-dependent refractive index of microscopic volumes. Light from a broadband source is filtered to an ~5 nm bandwidth and rapidly tuned across the visible spectrum in 1 nm increments by an acousto-optic tunable filter (AOTF). Quantitative phase images of semitransparent samples are recovered at each wavelength using off-axis interferometry and are processed to recover relative and absolute dispersion measurements. We demonstrate the utility of this approach by (i) spectrally averaging phase images to reduce coherent noise, (ii) measuring absorptive and dispersive features in microspheres, and (iii) quantifying bulk hemoglobin concentrations by absolute refractive index measurements. Considerations of using low coherence illumination and the extension of spectral techniques in quantitative phase measurements are discussed.