Polymer Optical Fiber Sensors and Devices

Dear Colleagues,

New photonic materials and structures enable application development in the field of new optical system and devices: light sources, optical radiation conversion systems, telecommunications, information storage, holography, and sensor systems. The polymers offer a wide range of applications resulting from the possibility of their modification with functional compounds. This is possible due to the low temperatures necessary for synthesis and thermoforming, as well as the availability of various methods for introducing dopants into the polymer host. Polymer optical structures, including planar and cylindrical optical fibers, are finding wider and wider applications in optoelectronic constructions. This is mainly due to the fact that they have a number of advantages, such as high elasticity, making it possible to produce "flexible" optical fibers with diameters up to several mm, high numerical aperture, lower manufacturing costs, and wide-ranging possibilities of doping with functional compounds (organic and inorganic). This is also why there are continuously new applications of this material in the construction of compact light sources, optical amplifiers, and metrology systems being developed.

In the last decade, there has been great progress in the synthesis of functional polymers. The new synthesis and doping methods of optical polymers enable physically, chemically, and optically active materials. The latest reports include systems doped with functional compounds that enable the achievement of the electro-optic effect, nonlinear, optically, and electrically induced luminescence, and photochromic, thermochromic, and chemically active structures. These achievements give a great opportunity for new polymer fiber structures and device constructions.

In this Special Issue, novel constructions of polymer optical fiber-based sensing structures devices are highlighted and discussed. It is my pleasure to invite you to submit a manuscript for this Special Issue of Materials entitled “Polymer Optical Fiber Sensors and Devices”.

The Special Issue will cover (but not be limited to) the following topics:

• Optical sensors (chemical, physical, environmental, etc.);
• Synthesis, characterizations, and applications of polymeric sensing materials;
• Optical fiber technology for production polymer sensors;
• Photoactive polymer optical fibers;
• Polymer-based photonic devices.

Dr. Piotr Miluski
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• polymer optical fiber sensor
• photonic devices
• functional polymers
• polymer-based sensors
• optical light guide sensors
• sensor devices