Globally, there is active development of photonic sensors incorporating multidisciplinary research. The ultimate objective is to develop small, low-cost, sensitive, selective, quick, durable, remote-controllable sensors that are resistant to electromagnetic interference. Different photonic sensor designs and advances in photonic frameworks have shown the possibility to realize these capabilities. In this review paper, the latest developments in the field of optical waveguide and fiber-based sensors which can serve for environmental monitoring are discussed. Several important topics such as toxic gas, water quality, indoor environment, and natural disaster monitoring are reviewed.

Herein, we have discussed three major methods which have been generally employed for the generation of optical beams with orbital angular momentum (OAM). These methods include the practice of diffractive optics elements (DOEs), metasurfaces (MSs), and photonic integrated circuits (PICs) for the production of in-plane and out-of-plane OAM. This topic has been significantly evolved as a result; these three methods have been further implemented efficiently by different novel approaches which are discussed as well. Furthermore, development in the OAM detection techniques has also been presented. We have tried our best to bring novel and up-to-date information to the readers on this interesting and widely investigated topic.

In the realization of photonic integrated devices, materials such as polymers are crucial. Polymers have shown compatibility with several patterning techniques, are generally affordable, and may be functionalized to obtain desired optical, electrical, or mechanical characteristics. Polymer waveguides are a viable platform for optical connectivity since they are easily adaptable to on-chip and on-board integration and promise low propagation losses <1 dB/cm. Furthermore, polymer waveguides can be made to be extremely flexible, able to withstand bending, twisting, and even stretching. Optical sensing is an interesting field of research that is gaining popularity in polymer photonics. Due to its huge potential for use in several industries, polymer waveguide-based sensors have attracted a lot of attention. Due to their resilience to electromagnetic fields, optical sensors operate better in difficult situations, such as those found in electrical power generating and conversion facilities. In this review, the most widely used polymer materials are discussed for integrated photonics. Moreover, four significant sensing applications of polymer-waveguide based sensors which include biosensing, gas sensing, temperature sensing and mechanical sensing have been debated.

We study analytically and numerically the possibility of vortex modes propagation over planar dielectric rectangular waveguides, and consider the problem of waveguide geometry optimization for the support of vortex modes. The results show, that theoretically rectangular waveguides can provide transmission of quasi-TE and quasi-TM modes with high purity states of orbital angular momentum (OAM) in the dominant field component. However, only for the quasi-generate mode of azimuthal order ±1 the constituent eigenmodes can propagate in a phase-matched regime, and the vortex modes of higher azimuthal orders can propagate only with a certain beat length. Moreover, as the target azimuthal order increases, the normalized power of the corresponding OAM state in the modal superposition decreases. The analytical predictions have been verified by numerical electromagnetic simulations of silicon nitride waveguides providing field distributions and OAM spectra of the corresponding modal superpositions.

In contemporary science and technology, photonic sensors are essential. They may be made to be extremely resistant to some physical parameters while also being extremely sensitive to other physical variables. Most photonic sensors may be incorporated on chips and operate with CMOS technology, making them suitable for use as extremely sensitive, compact, and affordable sensors. Photonic sensors can detect electromagnetic (EM) wave changes and convert them into an electric signal due to the photoelectric effect. Depending on the requirements, scientists have found ways to develop photonic sensors based on several interesting platforms. In this work, we extensively review the most generally utilized photonic sensors for detecting vital environmental parameters and personal health care. These sensing systems include optical waveguides, optical fibers, plasmonics, metasurfaces, and photonic crystals. Various aspects of light are used to investigate the transmission or reflection spectra of photonic sensors. In general, resonant cavity or grating-based sensor configurations that work on wavelength interrogation methods are preferred, so these sensor types are mostly presented. We believe that this paper will provide insight into the novel types of available photonic sensors.