Magnetic Nanoparticles Functionalized Few-Mode-Fiber-Based Plasmonic Vector Magnetometer

• Main Authors: Yaofei Chen, Weiting Sun, Yaxin Zhang, Guishi Liu, Yunhan Luo, Jiangli Dong, Yongchun Zhong, Wenguo Zhu, Jianhui Yu, Zhe Chen
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-05-01
• Series: Nanomaterials
• Subjects: magnetic nanoparticles; few-mode fiber; surface plasmonic resonance; magnetic vector
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-4991/9/5/785

In this work, we demonstrate a highly-sensitive vector magnetometer based on a few-mode-fiber-based surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor functionalized by magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) in liquid. To fabricate the sensor, a few-mode fiber is side-polished and coated with a gold film, forming an SPR sensor that is highly sensitive to the surrounding refractive index. The vector magnetometer operates based on the mechanism whereby the intensity and orientation of an external magnetic field alters the anisotropic aggregation of the MNPs and thus the refractive index around the fiber SPR device. This, in turn, shifts the resonance wavelength of the surface plasmon. Experimental results show the proposed sensor is very sensitive to magnetic-field intensity and orientation (0.692 nm/Oe and −11.917 nm/°, respectively). These remarkable sensitivities to both magnetic-field intensity and orientation mean that the proposed sensor can be used in applications to detect weak magnetic-field vectors.