Photothermal microtip with “nanotrap” on a fiber-optic end-face grating for specific sensing of inert gas Xe

This study proposes a fiber-optic xenon (Xe) sensor with photothermally tunable gas concentration sensitivity (PTGCS). A polymer microtip doped with Xe-selective material MOF-1 and photothermal material MOF-2 on the single-mode fiber (SMF) end face acts as a Fabry-Pérot (FP) sensor for Xe gas detection. MOF-2 can control the temperature of the polymer microtip by adjusting the power of the 808 nm laser. Based on the adsorption law of MOF-1, we establish the "laser power/temperature-gas concentration-spectral response" model of the sensor. Meanwhile, an ultra-compact plasmonic grating embedded between the optical fiber core and the polymer microtip serves as the temperature indicator. The research results show that when the excitation power of the 808 nm laser is 5 mW (50 °C) and 10 mW (70 °C), the PTGCS values of the sensor are 0.191 nm/ppb and 0.106 nm/ppb, respectively. The ratio of the two PTGCS values is 1.8, which can serve as the identification parameter for Xe gas to distinguish it from other gases, particularly krypton (Kr) gas. This sensor overcomes the limitation of relying solely on the selectivity of sensitive materials to identify Xe and can self-adjust the temperature to resist temperature interference.