Dispersion measurement of liquids with a fiber optic probe based on a bi-functional lensed photonic crystal fiber

We report a fiber optic probe suitable for measuring the wavelength dispersion of liquids. The measuring probe is made from an extrinsic fiber-optic cavity formed by a lensed photonic crystal fiber (PCF) and a micro-mirror. The custom-designed lensed PCF plays a dual role of collimator to help realize a long cavity length of the order of millimeters and as an efficient reflector to form the reference beam. The length of the cavity used in the experiment is about 1620 pm. In this article, we present the analytical method of obtaining dispersion of the liquid sample from the spectral interferogram of a single-arm or common path interferometer. Sodium chloride salt solutions with varied concentrations are used as an example to demonstrate the efficacy of the instrument. The index change with concentration is found to be linear at low concentrations and deviates from linearity as it approaches saturation. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.