Design of a Highly Sensitive Photonic Crystal Fiber Sensor for Sulfuric Acid Detection

In this research, a photonic crystal fiber (PCF)-based sulfuric acid detector is proposed and investigated to identify the exact concentration of sulfuric acid in a mixture with water. In order to calculate the sensing and propagation characteristics, a finite element method (FEM) based on COMSOL Multiphysics software is employed. The extensive simulation results verified that the proposed optical detector could achieve an ultra-high sensitivity of around 97.8% at optimum structural and operating conditions. Furthermore, the proposed sensor exhibited negligible loss with suitable numerical aperture and single-mode propagation at fixed operating conditions. In addition, the circular air holes in the core and cladding reduce fabrication complexity and can be easily produced using the current technology. Therefore, we strongly believe that the proposed detector will soon find its use in numerous industrial applications.