Colloidal crystal cladded microfiber for refractive index sensing

We investigate the evanescent field of a microfiber wrapped by colloidal crystals. The microfiber has the diameter of about 1 μm that is drawn from a single-mode fiber with an alcohol lamp. The colloidal spheres are further attached to the microfiber through thermal evaporation, then they self-assemble to crystal-like structures. The 400 nm, 590 nm, and 710 nm-diameter SiO2 colloidal spheres are used, respectively. The spectral responses are studied theoretically and experimentally, and the results agree with each other. It is revealed that the evanescent field of a microfiber could be modulated by the photonic band-gap of colloidal crystals. This characteristic is very useful in refractive index sensing for liquids.