Carlos R. Zamarreño

Bio: Carlos R. Zamarreño is an academic researcher from University of Navarra. The author has contributed to research in topics: Optical fiber & Refractive index. The author has an hindex of 27, co-authored 126 publications receiving 2596 citations. Previous affiliations of Carlos R. Zamarreño include Universidad Pública de Navarra.

Lossy Mode Resonance Generation With Indium-Tin-Oxide-Coated Optical Fibers for Sensing Applications

Abstract: Surface plasmon resonances and lossy mode resonances (LMRs) can be generated with indium tin oxide (ITO) coated optical fibers. Both phenomena are analyzed and compared. LMRs present important advantages: they do not require a specific polarization of light, it is possible to generate multiple attenuation bands in the transmission spectrum, and the sensitivity of the device to external parameters can be tuned. The key parameter is the thickness of the ITO coating. The study is supported with both theoretical and experimental results. The main purposes are sensing and generation of multiple-wavelength filters.

Femtomolar Detection by Nanocoated Fiber Label-Free Biosensors.

Abstract: The advent of optical fiber-based biosensors combined with that of nanotechnologies has provided an opportunity for developing in situ, portable, lightweight, versatile, and high-performance optical sensing platforms. We report on the generation of lossy mode resonances by the deposition of nanometer-thick metal oxide films on optical fibers, which makes it possible to measure precisely and accurately the changes in optical properties of the fiber-surrounding medium with very high sensitivity compared to other technology platforms, such as long period gratings or surface plasmon resonances, the gold standard in label-free and real-time biomolecular interaction analysis. This property, combined with the application of specialty structures such as D-shaped fibers, permits enhancing the light–matter interaction. SEM and TEM imaging together with X-EDS tool have been utilized to characterize the two films used, i.e., indium tin oxide and tin dioxide. Moreover, the experimental transmission spectra obtained af...

Design rules for lossy mode resonance based sensors

Abstract: Lossy mode resonances can be obtained in the transmission spectrum of cladding removed multimode optical fiber coated with a thin-film. The sensitivity of these devices to changes in the properties of the coating or the surrounding medium can be optimized by means of the adequate parameterization of the coating refractive index, the coating thickness, and the surrounding medium refractive index. Some basic rules of design, which enable the selection of the best parameters for each specific sensing application, are indicated in this work.

Optical sensors based on lossy-mode resonances

Abstract: Lossy-mode resonance (LMR)–based optical sensing technology has emerged in the last two decades as a nanotechnological platform with very interesting and promising properties. LMR complements the metallic materials typically used in surface plasmon resonance (SPR)–based sensors, with metallic oxides and polymers. In addition, it enables one to tune the position of the resonance in the optical spectrum, to excite the resonance with both transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) polarized light, and to generate multiple resonances. The domains of application are numerous: as sensors for detection of refractive indices voltage, pH, humidity, chemical species, and antigens, as well as biosensors. This review will discuss the bases of this relatively new technology and will show the main contributions that have permitted the optimization of its performance to the point that the question arises as to whether LMR–based optical sensors could become the sensing platform of the near future.

Optical fiber pH sensor based on lossy-mode resonances by means of thin polymeric coatings

Abstract: This work describes the fabrication of an optical fiber sensor with spectral response to pH based on the deposition of a thin polymeric coating on an optical fiber core. If the thin polymeric coating has a high refractive index real part and a non-null imaginary part, this permits a coupling of light to the modes guided in the polymeric coating originating optical resonances. These resonances are named by some authors as lossy-mode resonances (LMR) or guided-mode resonances. Moreover, the location of the resonances in the optical spectrum varies as a function of the coating thickness and refractive index. Hence, the utilization of the well-known poly(allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) and poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) pH sensitive polymeric coating that presents a variation of the thickness with the pH of the solution (known as swelling/deswelling behaviour) permits the fabrication of optical fiber pH sensors based on wavelength detection. The fabrication of ready-to-use devices requires considering several aspects such as the adequate polymeric coating thickness or the selection of the resonance to be monitored. As a result, LMR-based optical fiber pH sensors with accuracy of ±0.001 pH units and an average sensitivity of 0.027 pH units/nm within the range between pH 3 and pH 6 have been obtained after an adequate design.

I and i

Abstract: There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality. Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

Flexible Graphene-Based Wearable Gas and Chemical Sensors

Abstract: Wearable electronics is expected to be one of the most active research areas in the next decade; therefore, nanomaterials possessing high carrier mobility, optical transparency, mechanical robustness and flexibility, lightweight, and environmental stability will be in immense demand. Graphene is one of the nanomaterials that fulfill all these requirements, along with other inherently unique properties and convenience to fabricate into different morphological nanostructures, from atomically thin single layers to nanoribbons. Graphene-based materials have also been investigated in sensor technologies, from chemical sensing to detection of cancer biomarkers. The progress of graphene-based flexible gas and chemical sensors in terms of material preparation, sensor fabrication, and their performance are reviewed here. The article provides a brief introduction to graphene-based materials and their potential applications in flexible and stretchable wearable electronic devices. The role of graphene in fabricating ...

The Sol–Gel Route to Advanced Silica-Based Materials and Recent Applications

Abstract: Applications Rosaria Ciriminna,† Alexandra Fidalgo,‡ Valerica Pandarus, Franco̧is Beĺand, Laura M. Ilharco,*,‡ and Mario Pagliaro*,† †Istituto per lo Studio dei Materiali Nanostrutturati, CNR, via U. La Malfa 153, 90146 Palermo, Italy ‡Centro de Química-Física Molecular and IN-Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, Instituto Superior Tećnico, Complexo I, Av. Rovisco Pais 1, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal SiliCycle Inc., 2500, Parc-Technologique Boulevard, Quebec City, Quebec G1P 4S6, Canada