Negative curvature fibres: Exploiting the potential for novel optical sensors

One of the main challenges for fibre optic based sensing is robust operation in the mid-infrared (mid-IR) region. This is of major interest because this wavelength region is where the characteristic absorption spectra for a wide range of molecules lie. However, due to the high absorption of silica (above 2 μm), mid-IR sensors based on solid core silica fibres are not practical. Of the many alternatives to solid silica fibres, hollow core microstrutured optical fibres are being explored and show great promise. One relatively new fibre, the hollow core negative curvature fibre (NCF) is promising for novel optical devices due to the simple structure (in comparison to other microstructured fibres) in combination with a hollow core which enables low loss mid-IR infrared guidance in a silica based fibre. In this paper, an all silica NCF that is post-processed with a fs laser, in order to increase access to the hollow core, is presented with acceptable loss and significant potential for mid-IR gas sensing.