Doctoral Dissertations

Author

Xinwei Lan

Abstract

"Label-free optical fiber chemical sensors have provoked significant research interest in recent years due to their unique advantages of small size, low cost, potential for distributed sensing, capability of in situ and remote operation, and tolerance to harsh environments. However, existing optical fiber chemical sensors lack the desired sensitivity and specificity for many applications such as chemical and biological analysis, industrial process control, environmental monitoring, and national security.

The dissertation summarizes our research efforts and results in functional integration of nanoporous zeolites with optical fiber devices for development of label-free optical fiber chemical sensors with high sensitivity and selectivity. Fundamental research has been conducted in nano-materials, micro-devices and the material-device integrations. The material research has been focused on synthesis and characterization of nanoporous zeolites for optical chemical sensing. The research in devices has led to the successful design, fabrication and demonstration of a number of fiber sensor platforms including the turn-around-point long period fiber gratings (TAP-LPFG), the singlemode-multimode-singlemode (SMS) fiber interferometers, the long period fiber grating (LPFG) assisted Michelson interferometers, and nanostructured fiber optic surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) probes. Optical fiber chemical sensors have been successfully fabricated by growing zeolite thin films on the fiber devices, and evaluated for their sensitivity, detection limit and selectivity/specificity. The encouraging results reveal that integration of nanoporous zeolite with optical fiber devices presents a promising solution for development of high performance optical chemical sensors"--Abstract, page iii.

Advisor(s)

Xiao, Hai, Dr.

Committee Member(s)

Tsai, Hai-Lung
Brow, Richard K.
Watkins, Steve Eugene, 1960-
Kim, Chang-Soo

Department(s)

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Degree Name

Ph. D. in Electrical Engineering

Sponsor(s)

United States. Office of Naval Research
United States. Army Research Office

Publisher

Missouri University of Science and Technology

Publication Date

Spring 2013

Pagination

xii, 150 pages

Note about bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 132-149).

Rights

© 2013 Xinwei Lan, All rights reserved.

Document Type

Dissertation - Open Access

File Type

text

Language

English

Subject Headings

Chemical detectors -- Design and construction
Zeolites
Fiber optics
Interferometers -- Design and construction

Thesis Number

T 10339

Print OCLC #

860983297

Electronic OCLC #

908766121

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