High-sensitivity refractive index sensors based on Fano resonance in a metal-insulator-metal based arc-shaped resonator coupled with a rectangular stub

A metal-insulator-metal(MIM)-based arc-shaped resonator coupled with a rectangular stub(MARS) structure is proposed. This structure can generate two tunable Fano resonances originating from two different mechanisms. The structure has the advantage of being sensitive to the refractive index, and this feature makes it favorable for application in various microsensors. The relationship between the structural parameters and Fano resonance is researched using the finite element method(FEM) based on the software COMSOL Multiphysics 5.4. The simulation reveals that the sensitivity reaches1900 nm/refractive index unit(RIU), and the figure of merit(FOM) is 23.75.

Surface phonon resonance:A new mechanism for enhancing photonic spin Hall effect and refractive index sensor

Metal-based surface plasmon resonance(SPR)plays an important role in enhancing the photonic spin Hall effect(SHE)and developing sensitive optical sensors.However,the very large negative permittivities of metals limit their applications beyond the near-infrared regime.In this work,we theoretically present a new mechanism to enhance the photonic SHE by taking advantage of SiC-supported surface phonon resonance(SPhR)in the mid-infrared regime.The transverse displacement of photonic SHE is very sensitive to the wavelength of incident light and the thickness of SiC layer.Under the optimal parameter setup,the calculated largest transverse displacement of SiC-based SPhR structure reaches up to 163.8 ym,which is much larger than the condition of SPR.Moreover,an NO_(2) gas sensor based on the SPhR-enhanced photonic SHE is theoretically proposed with the superior sensing performance.Both the intensity and angle sensitivity of this sensor can be effectively manipulated by varying the damping rate of SiC.The results may provide a promising paradigm to enhance the photonic SHE in the mid-infrared region and open up new opportunity of highly sensitive refractive index sensors.

A Study on Refractive Index Sensors Based on Optical Micro-Ring Resonators

In this work, the behavior of refractive index sensors based on optical micro-ring resonators is studied in detail. Using a result of waveguide perturbation theory in combination with numerical simulations, the optimum design parameters of the system, maximizing the sensitivity of the sensor, are determined. It is found that, when optimally designed, the sensor can detect relative refractive index changes of the order of △n/n≈3×10^-4, assuming that the experimental setup can detect relative wavelength shifts of the order of △λ/λ≈3×10^-5. The behavior of the system as bio-sensor has also been examined. It is found that, when optimally designed, the system can detect refractive index changes of the order of △n≈ 10^-3 for a layer thickness of t=- 10 nm, and changes in the layer thickness of the order of △t≈0.24 nm, for a refractive index change of △n=0.05.

Design of a coated thinly clad chalcogenide long-period fiber grating refractive index sensor based on dual-peak resonance near the phase matching turning point

A novel method for designing chalcogenide long-period fiber grating(LPFG) sensors based on the dual-peak resonance effect of the LPFG near the phase matching turning point(PMTP) is presented. Refractive index sensing in a high-refractive-index chalcogenide fiber is achieved with a coated thinly clad film. The dual-peak resonant characteristics near the PMTP and the refractive index sensing properties of the LPFG are analyzed first by the phase-matching condition of the LPFG. The effects of film parameters and cladding radius on the sensitivity of refractive index sensing are further discussed. The sensor is optimized by selecting the appropriate film parameters and cladding radius. Simulation results show that the ambient refractive index sensitivity of a dual-peak coated thinly clad chalcogenide LPFG at the PMTP can be 2400 nm/RIU, which is significantly higher than that of non-optimized gratings. It has great application potential in the field of chemical sensing and biosensors.

Independently tunable dual resonant dip refractive index sensor based on metal–insulator–metal waveguide with Q-shaped resonant cavity

A plasmonic resonator system consisting of a metal–insulator–metal waveguide and a Q-shaped resonant cavity is proposed in this paper. The transmission properties of surface plasmon polaritons in this structure are investigated by using the finite difference in time domain(FDTD) method, and the simulation results contain two resonant dips. The physical mechanism is studied by the multimode interference coupled mode theory(MICMT), and the theoretical results are in highly consistent with the simulation results. Furthermore, the parameters of the Q-shaped cavity can be controlled to adjust the two dips, respectively. The refractive index sensor proposed in this paper, with a sensitivity of 1578 nm/RIU and figure of merit(FOM) of 175, performs better than most of the similar structures. Therefore, the results of the study are instructive for the design and application of high sensitivity nanoscale refractive index sensors.

High-performance Refractive Index Sensor Based on Photonic Crystal Single Mode Resonant Micro-cavity

An effective refractive index sensor built with square lattice photonic crystal is proposed,which can be applicable to photonic integrated circuits.Two photonic crystal waveguides rather than conventional ridge waveguides are used as entrance/exit waveguides to the micro-cavity.Three layers of photonic lattice are set between the photonic crystal waveguides and the micro-cavity to achieve both a high transmission and a high sensitivity.The plane wave method is utilized to calculate the disperse curves and the finite difference time domain scheme is employed to simulate the light propagation.At the resonant wavelength of about 1500 nm,the resonant wavelength shifts up by 0.7 nm for each increment of Δn=0.001.A transmission of more than 0.75 is observed.Although the position disorder of the photonic crystal doesn't affect the sensitivity of the sensor, the transmission reduces rapidly as the disorder increases.

Photonic crystal fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer with microholes ablated by a femtosecond laser for refractive index sensing

A new structure of the photonic crystal fiber（PCF）based Mach-Zednder interferometer（MZI）is fabricated and presented.The structure has microholes ablated by a femtosecond laser.The fringe visibility can be enhanced more than 10 dB compared with the interferometer without a microhole.The interferometer is characterized by sodium chloride solutions for refractive index（RI）sensing.The RI sensitivities are greatly increased by the hole fabrication since it directly changes the cladding modes of the PCF.For the interferometer sensor with two holes,the RI sensitivity is 157.74 nm/RIU,which is 5 times than that of the sensor without a microhole.Microholes ablation with a femtosecond laser on PCF can increase the sensor＇s sensitivity dramatically.Femtosecond laser has a wide application prospect in the field of performance improvement of the sensors.

High-sensitive refractive index sensing and excellent slow light based on tunable triple plasmon-induced transparency in monolayer graphene based metamaterial

A patterned monolayer graphene metamaterial structure consisting of six graphene blocks and two graphene strips is proposed to generate triple plasmon-induced transparency(PIT).TriplePIT can be effectively modulated by Fermi levels of graphene.The theoretically calculated results by coupled mode theory show a high matching degree with the numerically simulated results by finite-difference time-domain.Intriguingly,the high-sensitive refractive index sensing and excellent slow-light performance can be realized in the proposed graphene metamaterial structure.The sensitivity(S)and figure of merit can reach up to 5.7115 THz RIU^(-1)and 116.32,respectively.Moreover,the maximum group refractive index is 1036.Hence,these results may provide a new idea for designing graphene-based sensors and slow light devices.

Numerical simulation of a truncated cladding negative curvature fiber sensor based on the surface plasmon resonance effect

A refractive index(RI)sensor based on the surface plasmon resonance effect is proposed using a truncated cladding negative curvature fiber(TC-NCF).The influences of the TC-NCF structure parameters on the sensing performances are investigated and compared with the traditional NCF.The simulation results show that the proposed TC-NCF RI sensor has an ultra-wide detection range from 1.16 to 1.43.The maximum wavelength sensitivity reaches 12400 nm/RIU,and the corresponding R^(2)of the polynomial fitting equation is 0.9999.The maximum and minimum resolutions are 2.56×10^(-5)and 8.06×10^(-6),respectively.In addition,the maximum amplitude sensitivity can reach-379.1 RIU^(-1)when the RI is chosen as 1.43.The proposed TC-NCF RI sensor could be useful in biochemical medicine,environmental monitoring,and food safety.

Refractive Index Sensor Based on Fano Resonances in Plasmonic Waveguide With Dual Side-Coupled Ring Resonators

A refractive index sensor based on Fano resonances in metal-insulator-metal （MIM） waveguides coupled with rectangular and dual side rings resonators is proposed. The sensing properties are numerically simulated by the finite element method （FEM）. For the interaction of the narrow-band spectral response and the broadband spectral response caused by the side-coupled resonators and the rectangular resonator, respectively, the transmission spectra exhibit a sharp and asymmetric profile. Results are analyzed using the coupled-mode theory based on the transmission line theory. The coupled mode theory is employed to explain the Fano resonance effect. The results show that with an increase in the refractive index of the fill dielectric material in the slot of the system, the Fano resonance peak exhibits a remarkable red shift. Through the optimization of structural parameters, we achieve a theoretical value of the refractive index sensitivity （S） as high as 1160 nm/RIU, and the corresponding sensing resolution is 8.62 × 10 -5 RIU. In addition, the coupled MIM waveguide structure can be easily extended to other similar compact structures to realize the sensing task and integrated with other photonic devices at the chip scale. This work paves the way toward the sensitive nanometer scale refractive index sensor for design and application.

Polymer Waveguide Coupled Surface Plasmon Refractive Index Sensor:A Theoretical Study

A waveguide coupled surface plasmon sensor for detection of liquid with high refractive index(RI)is designed based on polymer materials.The effects of variation of the thickness of the Au film,polymethyl methacrylate(PMMA)buffer,and waveguide layer on the sensing performance of the waveguide are comprehensively investigated by using the finite difference method.Numerical simulations show that a thinner gold film gives rise to a more sensitive structure,while the variation of the thickness of the PMMA buffer and waveguide layer has a little effect on the sensitivity.For liquid with high RI,the sensitivity of the sensor increases significantly.When RI of liquid to be measured increases from 1.45 to 1.52,the sensitivity is as high as 4518.14 nm/RIU,and a high figure of merit of 114.07 is obtained.The waveguide coupled surface plasmon RI sensor shows potential applications in the fields of environment,industry,and agriculture sensing with the merits of compact size,low cost,and high integration density.

Highly Sensitive Refractive Index Sensor Based on Plasmonic Bow Tie Configuration

We propose a highly refractive index sensor based on plasmonic Bow Tie configuration.The sensitivity of the resonator design is enhanced by incorporating a nanowall(NW)in a modified Bow Tie design where sharp tips of V-junction are flattened.This approach provides high confinement of electric field distribution of surface plasmon polariton(SPP)mode in the narrow region of the cavity.Consequently,the effective refractive index(neff)of the mode increases and is highly responsive to the ambient medium.The sensitivity analysis of the SPP mode is calculated for six resonator schemes.The results suggest that the NW embedded cavity offers the highest mode sensitivity due to the large shift of effective index when exposed to a slight change in the medium refractive index.Moreover,the device sensitivity of the proposed design is approximated at 2300 nm/RIU which is much higher than the sensitivity of the standard Bow Tie configuration.

High Sensitive Long Period Fiber Grating Sensor for Detection of Nitrite

A high sensitive long period fiber grating（LPFG） sensor for the detection of nitrite is proposed, which is realized by coating multiple poly（sodium 4-styrensulfonate）（PSS） and poly（diallyldimethylammonium） chloride （PDDA） layers on the fiber grating surface. The sensitivity of this LPFG sensor is maximum when the number of assembled layers is 70. Under this condition, a nitrite concentration of 3×10^-3 mol/L, which is lower than the National Food Additive Standard, 4.2×10^-3 mol/L, can be distinguished. The sensitivity is further increased by 30% when nitrite was determined in the sucrose solution with a concentration of 65%, which provides a new solution for the best refraction index approaching matched index of the fiber cladding. Compared with chemical methods, this nitrite detection technology offers some advantages, such as high accuracy, non toxicity, high speed, low cost, without chemical reagent, and is suitable for foodstuff security detection.

Refractive index insensitive temperature sensor based on waist-enlarged few mode fiber bitapers

A refractive index insensitive temperature sensor based on waist-enlarged few mode fiber(FMF) bitapers is presented. The first section of FMF is spliced between two single-mode fibers. In fusion process,the waist-enlarged FMF bitapers can be obtained by large current discharging repeatedly. The refractive index and temperature sensing mechanisms are analyzed. For the sensors with different sizes,the refractive index and temperature experiments have been performed. The results show that in the refractive index ranges of 1.335 0—1.346 6 and 1.348 2—1.419 3,the refractive index insensitivity is verified. In a temperature range of 31.9—90 °C,the sensor sensitivity can be up to 85.57 pm/°C. In addition,it has a compact structure. Therefore,the sensor can avoid the cross sensitivity for measuring the refractive index and temperature simultaneously.

Side-polished SMS based RI sensor employing macro-bending perfluorinated POF

A refractive index(RI)sensor based on perfluorinated plastic optical fiber(PF-POF)is introduced in this paper.The PF-POF as multi-mode fiber was side-polished(SP)to form a macro-bending single-mode-multimode-single-mode(SMS)structure.Both ends of the sensor were closely connected to single-mode quartz optical fiber(SMF).The spectral char-acteristics of the sensor are measured,analyzed and discussed.The results show that when the length of PF-POF is 8 cm,the macro-bending radius is 3 cm,and the SP-depth is 20μm.The intensity sensitivity reaches−219.504 dBm/RIU in the range of RI=1.330~1.356.A reference is provided for the application of PF-POF in RI sensor in the future.The sensor is featured with low-cost,good flexibility and high efficiency.

Refractive Index Sensing Simulations of CsPbBr_(3) Quantum Dots/Gold Bilayer Coated Triangular-Lattice Photonic Crystal Fibers

With the incorporation of noble metal materials,photonic crystal fibers(PCFs)could be performed as an effective platform for refractive index sensing of the filling analytes.Furthermore,by coating functional dielectric layers upon the metal surfaces,the resonance energy transfer is modulated from the core mode of the PCFs towards the surface plasmon resonance mode of the metals,and the sensing performance could be boosted.Here,considering that the exciton-plasmon coupling is efficient between perovskite quantum dots(QDs)and gold,a kind of CsPbBr_(3) QDs/Au bilayer coated triangular-lattice PCFs has been simulated numerically as the refractive index sensors.With the optimization of the QDs and gold layer thicknesses,together with the variation of the central hole size of the PCFs,in the refractive index(RI)region of 1.26 to 1.34,a rather narrow full width at half maximum(FWHM)of the loss spectra was achieved as 13.74 nm when the central hole size was 1.28μm and the highest figure of merit was 63.79 RIU(the central hole size was 1.53μm).This work demonstrates that the analyte identification accuracy was enhanced by FWHM narrowing of the loss spectra;in addition,taking the abundance of the material choice of perovskite QDs into consideration,more analytes could be detected effectively.Moreover,by adopting asymmetric structures,the sensitivity of the PCFs based refractive index sensors could be further improved.

Intensity modulated silver coated glass optical fiber refractive index sensor

Miniature optical fiber sensors with thin films as sensitive elements could open new fields for optical fiber sensor applications. Thin films work as sensitive elements and a transducer to get response and feedback from environments, in which optical fibers act as a signal carrier. A novel Ag coated intensity modulated optical fiber sensor based on refractive index changes using IR and UV-Vis （UV-visible） light sources is proposed. The sensor with an IR light source has higher sensitivity compared to a UV-Vis source. When the refractive index is en- hanced to 1.38, the normalized intensity of IR and UV-Vis light diminishes to 0.2 and 0.8. respectively.

Intermodal interference based refractive index sensor employing elliptical core photonic crystal fiber

A refractive index(RI)sensor based on elliptical core photonic crystal fiber(EC-PCF)has been proposed.The asymmetric elliptical core introduces the polarization-dependent characteristics of the fiber core modes.The performances of intermodal interference between the intrinsic polarization fiber core modes are investigated by contrast in two interferometers based on the Mach-Zehnder(M-Z)and Sagnac interference model.In addition,the RI sensing characteristics of the two interferometers are studied by successively filling the three layers air holes closest to the elliptical core in the cladding.The results show that the M-Z interference between LP_(01)and LP_(11)mode in the same polarized direction is featured with the incremental RI sensing sensitivity as the decreasing interference length,and the infilled scope around the elliptical core has a weak correlation with the RI sensing sensitivity.Due to the high birefringence of LP11 mode,the Sagnac interferometer has better RI sensing performance,the maximum RI sensing sensitivity of 12000 nm/RIU is achieved under the innermost one layer air holes infilled with RI matching liquid of RI=1.39 at the pre-setting EC-PCF length of 12 cm,which is two orders of magnitude higher than the M-Z interferometer with the same fiber length.The series of theoretical optimized analysis would provide guidance for the applications in the field of biochemical sensing.

High frame rate multi-resonance imaging refractometry with distributed feedback dye laser sensor

High frame rate and highly sensitive imaging of refractive index changes on a surface is very promising for studying the dynamics of dissolution,mixing and biological processes without the need for labeling.Here,a highly sensitive distributed feedback(DFB)dye laser sensor for high frame rate imaging refractometry without moving parts is presented.DFB dye lasers are low-cost and highly sensitive refractive index sensors.The unique multi-wavelength DFB laser structure presented here comprises several areas with different grating periods.Imagingin two dimensions of space is enabled by analyzinglaser light from all areasin parallelwith an imaging spectrometer.With this multi-resonance imaging refractometry method,the spatial position in one direction is identified from the horizontal,i.e.,spectral position of the multiple laser lines which is obtained from the spectrometer charged coupled device(CCD)array.The orthogonal spatial position is obtained from the vertical spatial position on the spectrometer CCD array as in established spatially resolved spectroscopy.Here,the imaging technique is demonstrated by monitoring the motion of small sucrose molecules upon dissolution of solid sucrose in water.The omission of moving parts improves the robustness of the imaging system and allows a very high frame rate of up to 12 Hz.