Silicon Fiber Optic Coating with Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles Characterized by AFM

This paper presents the preparation and characterization of single-mode optical fibers coated with zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles using the immersion technique. The study was carried out in three stages: the first consisted of pretreating the fiber by means of controlled immersion in HCl and H2SO4 solutions and exposure in a muffle furnace; the second involved the growth and deposition of ZnO nanoparticles synthesized in a laboratory; and the third was characterization by means of atomic force microscopy (AFM). In this last stage, we obtained through AFM that Sample 1, considered optimized, presented high particle density (9.203 particles/µm2), an RMS roughness (Rq) of 2.98 nm, and average roughness (Ra) of 1.82 nm, as well as an average height of 1.117 nm. These parameters reflect a uniform and stable surface, desirable conditions for applications in the development of high-sensitivity optical sensors and biosensors.