“…Hence, in practice, unclad optical fibers are used, with the core exposed to the surrounding medium so that an evanescent wave can extend in this medium. This is usually obtained through a chemical etching process, most often with hydrofluoric acid (HF) [ 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 ] or through a side-polishing process [ 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 ]. The latter configuration has strong similarities with the use of Bragg gratings produced in D-shaped optical fibers [ 36 ].…”