Fiber optic sensor based on polarization-dependent absorption of graphene

Graphene has been reported to show polarization-dependent optical absorption in the visible spectral range, that it shows more absorption for s-polarized light than p-polarized light. We study further on it and demonstrate that this unique property can be utilized to design a fiber optic sensor, which works in a similar way of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) fiber optic sensor. However, they are based on different mechanisms. Numerical simulation reveals that graphene layer of 5 nm is appropriate for the fiber optic sensor to achieve its best sensing performance, with a high sensitivity from 1700 to 6900 nm/RIU (refractive index unit).