Polymer inverted-rib optical waveguide interferometric sensor for optoacoustic imaging

Abstract

An Interferometric Polymer Optical Waveguide Sensor (IPOWS) for optoacoustic signal detection has been fabricated by UV-imprinting method. The sensor has been characterized in sensitivity, dynamic range and frequency bandwidth. The noise equivalent pressure (NEP) of the sensor is around 100 Pa for a bandwidth range of 20 MHz. We have compared experimentally the performance of the IPOWS with a piezoelectric ultra wideband sensor and other optical fiber sensors based on single-mode silica and polymer optical fibers. All sensors are designed for the detection of optoacoustic wave sources with a frequency bandwidth that exceed 10MHz.