Recent work has demonstrated significant promise for high temperature optical gas sensing based upon optical property responses in a class of high electronic conductivity metal oxides. In this work, we theoretically simulate the response of aluminum-doped zinc-oxide (an exemplary conducting metal oxide) in optical fiber evanescent wave absorption spectroscopy sensor devices through the application of a general model of the optical constants for this class of materials in conjunction with prior published material-specific constants for the systems under investigation. Theoretical simulations are compared with recently published experimental results for Al-doped ZnO thin films and the various factors responsible for optimizing sensing responses in this class of materials will be discussed.

Date Published: 5 September 2014
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 9202, Photonics Applications for Aviation, Aerospace, Commercial, and Harsh Environments V, 92021I (5 September 2014); doi: 10.1117/12.2061362

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9202:
Photonics Applications for Aviation, Aerospace, Commercial, and Harsh Environments V
Alex A. Kazemi; Bernard C. Kress; Edgar A. Mendoza, Editor(s)