Open Access
Etched LPFGs in reflective configuration for sensitivity and attenuation band depth increase
(IEEE, 2016) Del Villar, Ignacio; Socorro Leránoz, Abián Bentor; Corres Sanz, Jesús María; Matías Maestro, Ignacio; Cruz, José Luis; Rego, Gaspar; Ingeniería Eléctrica y Electrónica; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa eta Elektronikoa
A reflection configuration setup for long-period fiber gratings is presented. It permits to obtain a unique band with attenuation double than that obtained in transmission configuration, which is interesting for applications where this value is reduced (e.g., the mode transition phenomenon). The method is based on the deposition of a silver mirror at the end of the optical fiber, which permits to absorb the power transmitted through cladding modes and to avoid the generation of interferometric bands. The method also solves the requirement of a precise cleave or to polish the end of the grating, a drawback present in other publications. The versatility of the setup has been proved by application of the cladding etching technique until the attenuation band corresponding with the first guided mode in the cladding is visualized in an optical spectrum analyzer. The experimental results are supported by the numerical data obtained with a method based on the exact calculation of core and cladding modes and the utilization of coupled mode theory
Open Access
Optical sensors based on lossy-mode resonances
(Elsevier Science, 2017) Matías Maestro, Ignacio; Ascorbe Muruzabal, Joaquín; Acha Morrás, Nerea de; López Torres, Diego; Zubiate Orzanco, Pablo; Sánchez Zábal, Pedro; Urrutia Azcona, Aitor; Socorro Leránoz, Abián Bentor; Rivero Fuente, Pedro J.; Hernáez Sáenz de Zaitigui, Miguel; Elosúa Aguado, César; Goicoechea Fernández, Javier; Bariáin Aisa, Cándido; Corres Sanz, Jesús María; Ruiz Zamarreño, Carlos; Arregui San Martín, Francisco Javier; Del Villar, Ignacio; Ingeniería Eléctrica y Electrónica; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa eta Elektronikoa; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC
Open Access
Direct functionalization of TiO2/PSS sensing layer for an LMR-based optical fiber reusable biosensor
(IEEE, 2023) Santano Rivero, Desiree; Socorro Leránoz, Abián Bentor; Del Villar, Ignacio; Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y de Comunicación; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa, Elektronikoaren eta Telekomunikazio Ingeniaritzaren; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa, PJUPNA2033
Functionalization plays a crucial role in the development of biosensors. In this study, bioreceptors were directly immobilized onto the surface of a sensing layer after physical activation, avoiding the need for longer and more complex functionalization systems. This direct immobilization was applied to an optical sensing platform based on lossy mode resonances (LMRs) generated by a thin-film of titanium (IV) dioxide/poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate) (TiO 2 /PSS). To generate the LMR, a 200-micron bare optical fiber was coated with TiO 2 /PSS using the layer-by-layer self-assembly technique. The PSS of the sensing layer was then physically activated using either UV-ozone or plasma to immobilize anti-rabbit IgG bioreceptors. This enabled specific and label-free detection of rabbit IgG concentrations ranging from 0.002 to 2 mg/ml. The results presented in this work include real-time detection of rabbit IgG, a comparison between the two activation techniques (UV-ozone and plasma), and an analysis of the biosensor’s reusability over four consecutive cycles, which demonstrates the promising potential of the TiO 2 /PSS sensing layer for biosensing applications.
Open Access
Micro and nanostructured materials for the development of optical fibre sensors
(MDPI, 2017) Elosúa Aguado, César; Arregui San Martín, Francisco Javier; Del Villar, Ignacio; Ruiz Zamarreño, Carlos; Corres Sanz, Jesús María; Bariáin Aisa, Cándido; Goicoechea Fernández, Javier; Hernáez Sáenz de Zaitigui, Miguel; Rivero Fuente, Pedro J.; Socorro Leránoz, Abián Bentor; Urrutia Azcona, Aitor; Sánchez Zábal, Pedro; Zubiate Orzanco, Pablo; López Torres, Diego; Acha Morrás, Nerea de; Ascorbe Muruzabal, Joaquín; Ozcariz Celaya, Aritz; Matías Maestro, Ignacio; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa eta Elektronikoa; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC; Ingeniería Eléctrica y Electrónica
The measurement of chemical and biomedical parameters can take advantage of the features exclusively offered by optical fibre: passive nature, electromagnetic immunity and chemical stability are some of the most relevant ones. The small dimensions of the fibre generally require that the sensing material be loaded into a supporting matrix whose morphology is adjusted at a nanometric scale. Thanks to the advances in nanotechnology new deposition methods have been developed: they allow reagents from different chemical nature to be embedded into films with a thickness always below a few microns that also show a relevant aspect ratio to ensure a high transduction interface. This review reveals some of the main techniques that are currently been employed to develop this kind of sensors, describing in detail both the resulting supporting matrices as well as the sensing materials used. The main objective is to offer a general view of the state of the art to expose the main challenges and chances that this technology is facing currently.
Open Access
All fiber interferometer for ice detection
(Optica Publishing Group, 2018) Arozarena Arana, Jesús Antonio; Socorro Leránoz, Abián Bentor; Del Villar, Ignacio; Díaz Lucas, Silvia; Matías Maestro, Ignacio; Ingeniería Eléctrica y Electrónica; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa eta Elektronikoa; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC
This work presents an etched single-mode - multimode - single-mode structure that detects the solid-to-liquid change of state of the water due to an increased refractive index sensitivity within the 1.308 - 1.321 RIU range
Open Access
Refractometric sensors based on multimode interference in a thin-film coated singlemode– multimode–single-mode structure with reflection configuration
(Optical Society of America, 2014) Del Villar, Ignacio; Socorro Leránoz, Abián Bentor; Corres Sanz, Jesús María; Arregui San Martín, Francisco Javier; Matías Maestro, Ignacio; Ingeniería Eléctrica y Electrónica; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa eta Elektronikoa; Gobierno de Navarra / Nafarroako Gobernua
Thin-film coated single-mode–multimode–single-mode (SMS) structures have been analyzed both theoretically and experimentally with the aim of detecting different refractive indices. By adequate selection of the thickness of the thin film and of the diameter of the multimode segment in the SMS structure, a seven-fold improvement can be obtained in the sensitivity of the device to the surrounding medium refractive index, achieving a maximum sensitivity of 1199.18 nm∕refractive index unit for the range of refractive indices from 1.321 to 1.382. Using layer-by-layer self-assembly for deposition, both on the cladding and on the tip of the multimode segment, allows the reflected power to increase, which avoids the application of a mirror on the tip of the multimode segment.
Open Access
Sensors based on thin-film coated cladding removed multimode optical fiber and single-mode multimode single-mode fiber: a comparative study
(Hindawi Publishing Corporation, 2015) Del Villar, Ignacio; Socorro Leránoz, Abián Bentor; Hernáez Sáenz de Zaitigui, Miguel; Corres Sanz, Jesús María; Ruiz Zamarreño, Carlos; Sánchez Zábal, Pedro; Arregui San Martín, Francisco Javier; Matías Maestro, Ignacio; Ingeniería Eléctrica y Electrónica; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa eta Elektronikoa
Two simple optical fibre structures that do not require the inscription of a grating, a cladding removed multimode optical fibre (CRMOF) and a single-mode multimode single-mode structure (SMS), are compared in terms of their adequateness for sensing once they are coated with thin-films.The thin-film deposited (TiO2/PSS) permits increasing the sensitivity to surrounding medium refractive index. The results obtained can be extrapolated to other fields such as biological or chemical sensing just by replacing the thin-film by a specific material.
Open Access
Optical fiber immunosensors optimized with cladding etching and ITO nanodeposition
(IEEE, 2018) Cardona-Maya, Yamile; Del Villar, Ignacio; Socorro Leránoz, Abián Bentor; Corres Sanz, Jesús María; Botero-Cadavid, Juan F.; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC; Gobierno de Navarra / Nafarroako Gobernua
Etched optical fiber immunosensors, with and without ITO nanodeposition, have been developed. The performance of these immunosensors has been assessed implementing an immunoassay. The sensitivity of the mmnunosensor increased by a factor of 4 with the ITO nanocoating, whereas the limit of the detection in both types of devices was 0.2 mg/L of antigens in solution.
Open Access
Fiber-optic biosensor based on lossy mode resonances
(Elsevier, 2012) Socorro Leránoz, Abián Bentor; Corres Sanz, Jesús María; Del Villar, Ignacio; Arregui San Martín, Francisco Javier; Matías Maestro, Ignacio; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa, Elektronikoaren eta Telekomunikazio Ingeniaritzaren; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC; Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y de Comunicación
Open Access
Lossy mode resonance based microfluidic platform developed on planar waveguide for biosensing applications
(MDPI, 2022) Benítez Pérez, Melanys; Zubiate Orzanco, Pablo; Del Villar, Ignacio; Socorro Leránoz, Abián Bentor; Matías Maestro, Ignacio; Ingeniaritza Elektrikoa, Elektronikoaren eta Telekomunikazio Ingeniaritzaren; Institute of Smart Cities - ISC; Ingeniería Eléctrica, Electrónica y de Comunicación; Universidad Pública de Navarra / Nafarroako Unibertsitate Publikoa
The development of resonance phenomena-based optical biosensors has gained relevance in recent years due to the excellent optical fiber properties and progress in the research on materials and techniques that allow resonance generation. However, for lossy mode resonance (LMR)-based sensors, the optical fiber presents disadvantages, such as the need for splicing the sensor head and the complex polarization control. To avoid these issues, planar waveguides such as coverslips are easier to handle, cost-effective, and more robust structures. In this work, a microfluidic LMR-based planar waveguide platform was proposed, and its use for biosensing applications was evaluated by detecting anti-immunoglobulin G (anti-IgG). In order to generate the wavelength resonance, the sensor surface was coated with a titanium dioxide (TiO2) thin-film. IgG antibodies were immobilized by covalent binding, and the detection assay was carried out by injecting anti-IgG in PBS buffer solutions from 5 to 20 μg/mL. The LMR wavelength shifted to higher values when increasing the analyte concentration, which means that the proposed system was able to detect the IgG/anti-IgG binding. The calibration curve was built from the experimental data obtained in three repetitions of the assay. In this way, a prototype of an LMR-based biosensing microfluidic platform developed on planar substrates was obtained for the first time