Micro Resonators on Side-Polished Fiber - A Potential Fiber Optic Sensor Platform

A novel fiber optical sensor structure based on micro-ring resonators coupled to a side-polished fiber is presented. A waveguide ring resonator is made directly over the core of a side-polished optical fiber. Since the resonator cavity itself is made of sensing material, the detection is intrinsic, which may lead to higher sensitivity and faster response than fiber Bragg grating based sensors. Various fiber-optic sensors with improved temporal and spatial resolution, as well as multifunctional sensor arrays are possible with this small size and light weight device structure