Novel glucose sensor based on enzymeimmobilized 81° tilted fiber grating

We demonstrate a novel glucose sensor based on an optical fiber grating with an excessively tilted index fringe structure and its surface modified by glucose oxidase (GOD). The aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) was utilized as binding site for the subsequent GOD immobilization. Confocal microscopy and fluorescence microscope were used to provide the assessment of the effectiveness in modifying the fiber surface. The resonance wavelength of the sensor exhibited red-shift after the binding of the APTES and GOD to the fiber surface and also in the glucose detection process. The red-shift of the resonance wavelength showed a good linear response to the glucose concentration with a sensitivity of 0.298nm.(mg/ml)(-1) in the very low concentration range of 0.0 similar to 3.0mg/ml. Compared to the previously reported glucose sensor based on the GOD-immobilized long period grating (LPG), the 81 degrees tilted fiber grating (81 degrees-TFG) based sensor has shown a lower thermal cross-talk effect, better linearity and higher Q-factor in sensing response. In addition, its sensitivity for glucose concentration can be further improved by increasing the grating length and/or choosing a higher-order cladding mode for detection. Potentially, the proposed techniques based on 81 degrees-TFG can be developed as sensitive, label free and micro-structural sensors for applications in food safety, disease diagnosis, clinical analysis and environmental monitoring. (C) 2014 Optical Society of America