Photonic Crystal Fiber and Crystal-Based Sensing Technologies

Photonic crystal fibres (PCFs) and crystal-based sensing platforms harness periodic dielectric structures to confine and manipulate light with unprecedented control. In PCFs, a matrix of air holes running along the fibre length creates bandgap or index-guiding regimes that enhance light–matter interaction, enabling sensitive detection of refractive‐index changes, biochemical species and environmental parameters. Crystal‐based sensors built on two‐ or three‐dimensional photonic crystals exploit defect modes and high‐quality resonances to monitor temperature, pressure or chemical composition via shifts in resonant frequency or transmission spectra. Advances in material deposition—such as graphene or noble‐metal coatings—further boost surface plasmon resonance effects in PCFs, yielding detection limits down to 10⁻⁶ refractive index units. Beyond refractometry, crystal cavities integrated on chip platforms enable label‐free biosensing and gas detection with sub‐parts per million resolution. Collectively, these technologies offer compact, robust and multiplexed sensing solutions for biomedical diagnostics, environmental monitoring and industrial process control, while ongoing work explores mid‐infrared operation and hybrid integration with microfluidics for real‐time analysis.

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Photonic Crystal Fiber and Crystal-Based Sensing Technologies publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in photonic crystal fiber and crystal-based sensing technologies across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Photonic bandgap guiding: Confinement of light in a low-index core by a periodic cladding that prohibits propagation in certain wavelength ranges.

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR): Resonant oscillation of electrons at a metal–dielectric interface, sensitive to refractive‐index changes.

Refractive‐index unit (RIU): Standard measure of refractive‐index change; sensitivity often given in nm/RIU or RIU⁻¹.

Finite‐element method (FEM): Numerical technique for solving electromagnetic field distributions in complex structures.

Defect mode: Localised optical resonance within a photonic crystal cavity introduced by perturbing its periodic structure.

References

1. Photonic Crystal Fiber-Based Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensor with Selective Analyte Channels and Graphene-Silver Deposited Core. Sensors (2015).
2. Mid-infrared surface plasmon resonance sensor based on photonic crystal fibers.. Optics Express (2017).
3. Symmetrical dual D-shape photonic crystal fibers for surface plasmon resonance sensing.. Optics Express (2018).