We have proposed a novel planar lightwave circuit (PLC) optical sensor to monitor the contamination in a flow-cell where water is continuously supplied through a water quality measurement system. We designed a PLC chip with a V-shape waveguide and the simulated its function as a sensor for monitoring contamination in a flow-cell using a numerical the FDTD (finite-difference time-domain) analysis. A novel cross type of waveguide was introduced to make the PLC chip of the V-shaped waveguide. The fabricated PLC was cut into the cross waveguide. A change in the optical propagation loss of the PLC sensor was observed after immersing the PLC sensor into city water. It was determined that the propagation loss of the PLC sensor was 3 dB at a wavelength of 1.55 μm in the city water for 15 days.
