Wheel structured Zeonex-based photonic crystal fiber sensor in THz regime for sensing milk

In this paper, a wheel structured Zeonex-based hexagonal packing photonic crystal fiber (PCF) sensor has been proposed for sensing camel milk with a refractive index of 1.3423 and cow milk with a refractive index of 1.3459. This sensor has been investigated for porosities of 85%, 90%, and 98% within a terahertz (THz) region ranging from 0.2 to 2.0 THz. At an operating frequency of 2 THz, this sensor has shown a maximum sensitivity of 81.16% and 81.32% for camel and cow milk, respectively. EML of 0.033013 cm⁻¹ and 0.03284 cm⁻¹ has been found for camel and cow milk, respectively, at the same operating conditions with negligible confinement losses of 8.675 × 10^–18 cm⁻¹ 1.435 × 10^–18 cm⁻¹. Several other parameters, such as the effective area, flattened dispersion, and numerical aperture, have also been obtained during the investigation. Since considerable attention has not been given yet in detecting various types of dairy products using PCF terahertz sensors, this design will pave a whole new path in further implementing THz sensing in the dairy industry.