Etude des plasmons de surface dans une fibre optique attaquee chimiquement

Abstract

The present work focuses on the study of surface plasmons using optical fibers. Indeed, light in an optical fiber is characterized by an optical wave traveling through the fiber core, accompanied by an evanescent wave guided within the cladding. A surface plasmon can be excited when a thin metallic layer is deposited on the surface of the fiber core. To achieve this condition, several techniques— chemical, or a combination of both—are employed to remove the glass optical cladding from the fiber. In this study, only chemical etching using hydrofluoric acid (HF) is considered. To control the chemical etching rate, two HF acid baths with different concentrations are used. The reduction in the fiber diameter is monitored in real time through optical measurements performed using an experimental setup.