Abstract

This study presents a chemical vapor sensor based on polymer-coated microsphere resonators. A theoretical simulation of the sensor response is performed, and optimization of the polymer layer thickness is investigated. Results show that the sensor exhibits a good linearity and a low detection limit of the refractive index change. Especially at the thermostable thickness of the polymer layer, the refractive index detection limit of the wavelength around $780\mathrm{nm}$ can be as low as $\sim 2\times {10}^{-8}$ refractive index unit for a spectral resolution of $10\mathrm{fm}$, without any temperature control. Because of the good sensing performance and simple manipulation, the proposed sensor is a very promising platform for chemical vapor detections.

© 2011 Optical Society of America

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