ZnO Nanorods Coated Glass Substrate Based on Side Coupling Technique for Lactose Sensing Application

A study has been conducted to investigate the sensing performance of zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods coated glass substrate using the side coupling approach for lactose sensing application. The concentration of lactose solution was varied from 0% to 100% in order to examine the performance of the proposed sensor, which is influenced by the scattering and absorption of light. Coated glass substrates with optical side coupling could solve the lower output coupling voltage existed in the recent approach. Experimental results show that the proposed approach improved by a factor of 2.5 as compared to the uncoated glass substrate when exposed to variation concentration of lactose solution. The average sensitivity of the sensor was observed to be 0.0201 V/%Concentration throughout the tested %Concentration levels. The utilization of affordable and uncomplicated sensors allows for the precise identification of alterations in the refractive index solution, hence presenting potential applications in the domains of environmental and optical sensing.