Enhanced Terahertz Fingerprint Sensing Mechanism Study of Tiny Molecules Based on Tunable Spoof Surface Plasmon Polaritons on Composite Periodic Groove Structures

Abstract

Highly sensitive detection of enhanced terahertz (THz) fingerprint absorption spectrum of trace-amount tiny molecules is essential for biosensing. THz surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors based on Otto prism-coupled attenuated total reflection (OPC-ATR) configuration have been recognized as a promising technology in biomedical detection applications. However, THz-SPR sensors based on the traditional OPC-ATR configuration have long been associated with low sensitivity, poor tunability, low refractive index resolution, large sample consumption, and lack of fingerprint analysis. Here, we propose an enhanced tunable high-sensitivity and trace-amount THz-SPR biosensor based on a composite periodic groove structure (CPGS). The elaborate geometric design of the spoof surface plasmon polaritons (SSPPs) metasurface increases the number of electromagnetic hot spots on the surface of the CPGS, improves the near-field enhancement effect of SSPPs, and enhances the interaction between THz wave and the sample. The results show that the sensitivity (S), figure of merit (FOM) and Q-factor (Q) can be increased to 6.55 THz/RIU, 4234.06 1/RIU and 629.28, respectively, when the refractive index range of the sample to measure is between 1 and 1.05 with the resolution 1.54×10−5 RIU. Moreover, by making use of the high structural tunability of CPGS, the best sensitivity (SPR frequency shift) can be obtained when the resonant frequency of the metamaterial approaches the biological molecule oscillation. These advantages make CPGS a strong candidate for the high-sensitivity detection of trace-amount biochemical samples.

Advanced Terahertz Refractive Sensing And Fingerprint Recognition Through Metasurface‐Excited Surface Waves

“…Such as detecting minor changes of medium through near field enhancement, [12,19,34,[38][39][40][41] high quality factor (Q-factor) metasurface sensing based on fingerprint spectra, [33,35,39] and improving resonance strength by coupling magnetic dipoles with electric quadrupoles to enhance sensitivity. [36,42,43] However, traditional metasurface sensors typically rely on periodic structure with single resonant mode for acquiring and accumulating analytes information. [44][45][46][47] This approach reliances on transmission or reflection spectra measurements, which decides the way of enhancing the interaction between analytes and light can only be achieved in a 2D structure and limits the ability to achieve higher sensitivity.…”