Plasmonic crystal enhanced refractive index sensing

Journal Article · Mon Jun 23 00:00:00 EDT 2014 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4885120· OSTI ID:22303839

Stein, Benedikt; Devaux, Eloïse; Genet, Cyriaque; Ebbesen, Thomas W. ^[1]

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1. ISIS and icRFC, University of Strasbourg and CNRS, 8 allée Gaspard Monge, 67000 Strasbourg (France)

We demonstrate experimentally how the local anisotropy of the dispersion relation of surface plasmon modes propagating over periodic metal gratings can lead to an enhancement of the figure of merit of refractive index sensors. Exploiting the possibility to acquire defocused images of the Fourier space of a highly stable leakage radiation microscope, we report a twofold increase in sensing sensitivity close to the band gap of a one-dimensional plasmonic crystal where the anisotropy of the band structure is the most important. A practical sensing resolution of O(10{sup −6}) refractive index units is demonstrated.

• OSTI ID: 22303839
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 104, Issue 25; Other Information: (c) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0003-6951
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS
SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND SUPERFLUIDITY
ANISOTROPY
CRYSTALS
DISPERSION RELATIONS
MICROSCOPES
PERIODICITY
PLASMONS
REFRACTIVE INDEX
RESOLUTION
SENSITIVITY
SURFACES
WAVE PROPAGATION