Abstract

We propose and demonstrate a spider silk-based fiber sensor for magnetic field measurement. The spider silk plays two roles: one is the carrier of sensitive magnetic materials (Streptavidin-Biotin modified magnetic nanoparticle), the other is to act as a light guide material to participate in mode interference. We pull a single-mode fiber to the biconical structure and wrap the spider silk around the tapered-shaped region. Since the refractive index of spider silk is higher than that of the fiber core, the high-order mode beam transmitted in the fiber cone will couple into spider silk, and we may obtain the multimode interference spectrum. Furthermore, the Streptavidin-Biotin modified magnetic nanoparticle is sensitive to the magnetic field and will change the effective refractive index of spider silk. Therefore, we may perform the magnetic field sensing by wrapping the spider silk around the tapered-shaped single-mode fiber and combining the Streptavidin-Biotin with the spider silk. The experimental results show that the maximum sensitivity can reach 1126.3 pm/Oe, which is higher than most all-fiber magnetic field sensors. The average sensitivity is 400pm/Oe in the range of 0-120 Oe. The response time is 146.9 ms. The proposed magnetic field sensor has the advantages of easy manufacturing, environmental friendliness, and simple structure. Therefore, the magnetic field sensor has potential applications in various fields, such as military, environmental, and industrial.

Spider silk-based humidity sensor

Zhihai Liu, Min Zhang, Yu Zhang, Yaxun Zhang, Keqiang Liu, Jianzhong Zhang, Jun Yang, and Libo Yuan
Opt. Lett. 44(11) 2907-2910 (2019)

Biocompatible spider silk-based metal-dielectric fiber optic sugar sensor

Hsuan-Pei E, Jelene Antonicole Ngan Kong, Wei-Chun Chen, Che-Chin Chen, Chia-Hsiung Cheng, and Cheng-Yang Liu
Biomed. Opt. Express 13(9) 4483-4493 (2022)

Reflective all-fiber magnetic field sensor based on microfiber and magnetic fluid

Longfeng Luo, Shengli Pu, Jiali Tang, Xianglong Zeng, and Mahieddine Lahoubi
Opt. Express 23(14) 18133-18142 (2015)

Supercontraction of spider dragline silk for humidity sensing

Zhihai Liu, Xuhao Ji, Yu Zhang, Min Zhang, Hongru Song, Yaxun Zhang, Xinghua Yang, Jianzhong Zhang, Jun Yang, and Libo Yuan
Opt. Express 29(18) 28864-28871 (2021)

Natural spider silk as a photonics component for humidity sensing

Zhihai Liu, Wei Liu, Chuanzhen Hu, Yu Zhang, Xinghua Yang, Jianzhong Zhang, Jun Yang, and Libo Yuan
Opt. Express 27(15) 21946-21955 (2019)