中文摘要：

We theoretically design and experimentally realize a broadband ultrasmall microcavity for sensing a varying number of microparticles whose diameter is 2 μm in a freely suspended microfiber. The performance of the microcavity is predicted by the theory of one-dimensional photonic crystals and verified by the numerical simulation of finite-difference time domain and the experimental characterization of reflection and transmission spectra. A penetrating length into the reflectors as small as about four periods is demonstrated in the numerical simulation,giving rise to an ultrasmall effective mode volume that can increase the sensitivity and spatial resolution of sensing. Moreover, a reflection band as large as 150 nm from the reflectors of the microcavity has been realized in silica optical microfiber in the experiment, which highly expands the wavelength range of sensing. Our proposed microcavity integrated into a freely suspended optical fiber offers a convenient and stable method for long-distance sensing of microparticles without the need for complicated coupling systems and is free from the influence of substrates.

英文摘要：

We theoretically design and experimentally realize a broadband ultrasmall microcavity for sensing a varying number of microparticles whose diameter is 2 mu m in a freely suspended microfiber. The performance of the microcavity is predicted by the theory of one-dimensional photonic crystals and verified by the numerical simulation of finite-difference time domain and the experimental characterization of reflection and transmission spectra. A penetrating length into the reflectors as small as about four periods is demonstrated in the numerical simulation, giving rise to an ultrasmall effective mode volume that can increase the sensitivity and spatial resolution of sensing. Moreover, a reflection band as large as 150 nm from the reflectors of the microcavity has been realized in silica optical microfiber in the experiment, which highly expands the wavelength range of sensing. Our proposed microcavity integrated into a freely suspended optical fiber offers a convenient and stable method for long-distance sensing of microparticles without the need for complicated coupling systems and is free from the influence of substrates. (C) 2017 Chinese Laser Press