Multilayered self-assembled optical fiber sensors for biomedical applications

We report recent developments in the design and fabrication of molecularly self-assembled thin film materials that may be incorporated with optical fiber waveguides to form humidity and other gas sensors of use in biomedical diagnostic systems. Optical fiber distal end sensors based on this concept may be fabricated by molecularly self-assembling selected polymers and functionalized inorganic nanoclusters into multilayered optical thin films on the cleaved and polished flat ends of singlemode optical fibers. Prior work reported at this meeting has studied the synthesis process and sensor dynamics, including sensor 10-90% risetime on the order of microseconds. This paper briefly reviews that work but then reports new developments in the synthesis of the sensor films.