Recent advances in photonic crystal fiber based chemical and industrial sensors: a review

Photonic crystal fiber (PCF) sensors exhibit significant potential for applications in diverse fields, including environmental observation, industrial settings, chemistry, biomedicine, and beyond. The functionality of these sensors relies on sophisticated and adaptable photonic crystal fiber structures, where the manipulation of light propagation is harnessed for amplitude measurement. This review provides an overview of the recent advancements in sensing technology utilizing PCF, specifically focusing on applications in chemical detection and industrial sensing. Various structures, including hollow rectangle, hexagonal, rectangular porous core, decagonal, and mono rectangular, are explored and discussed in the context of photonic crystal fibers. The review is segmented into two primary sections, the first focusing on chemical sensors and the second on industrial sensors. Essential evaluation parameters and numerical methods that are employed for designing, testing, and evaluating such sensors are also discussed in this review. A concise explanation is presented, accompanied by a comparative table highlighting multiple types of chemical and industrial sensors-based PCF.