Nanofabrication techniques applied to the development of novel optical fiber sensors based on nanostructured coatings

Nanostructured coatings and nanostructured patterns present unique properties that can lead the advances in the development of novel devices. Sensing devices and in particular optical fiber sensors can take advantage of these unique properties in the design of new and improved sensors due to intimate interactions of these coatings and patterns with the selected target at a molecular scale. These nanostructured coatings and nanostructured patterns can be bundled together with an optical fiber, in such a manner that they can induce changes in the properties of the light traveling through the optical fiber. However, the fabrication of these coatings and patterns is sometimes challenging and requires a deep interdisciplinary knowledge in order to obtain the desired results. Some of the most well-known nanofabrication techniques have been reviewed in this paper, showing their main issues, key parameters, as well as the most recent applications in the optical fiber sensing field.