Optical time-of-flight chemical detection: spatially resolved analyte mapping with extended-length continuous chemically modified optical fibers.

We theoretically evaluate and experimentally verify a novel strategy for spatially resolved analyte mapping over extended remote areas. The approach combines a method for the fabrication of continuous extended-length sensors with optical time-of-flight chemical detection (OTOF-CD). The use of OTOF-CD makes it possible to locate the zones in the fiber where attenuation or fluorescence takes place, to determine the magnitude of these variations, and to relate the magnitude of the variations to the local concentration or concentrations of a single analyte or several analytes. Simulation experiments suggest that OTOF-CD should provide spatial resolution close to its theoretical limit by deconvolution of the returned wave form with all time-dependent experimental variables (laser pulse width, reagent fluorescence lifetime, etc.). The signal-processing technique should be useful for a wide variety of sensors based on absorption, refractive index, or statically and dynamically quenched fluorescence. Experimental results with a model system (a 48-m-long oxygen sensor) compare favorably with those predicted by numerical simulations. Possible experimental difficulties in the realization of these novel sensors are discussed as are ways to overcome them.