Lasing Enhanced Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensing

Abstract

Abstract:The resonance phenomena of surface plasmons has enabled development of a novel class of noncontact, real-time and label-free optical sensors, which have emerged as a prominent tool in biochemical sensing and detection. However, various forms of surface plasmon resonances occur with natively strong non-radiative Drude damping that weakens the resonance and limits the sensing performance fundamentally. Here we experimentally demonstrate the first lasing-enhanced surface plasmon resonance (LESPR) refractive index sensor. The figure of merit (FOM) of intensity sensing is~84,000, which is about 400 times higher than state-of-the-art surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor. We found that the high FOM originates from three unique features of LESPR sensors: high-quality factor, nearly zero background emission and the Gaussian-shaped lasing spectra. The LESPR sensors may form the basis for a novel class of plasmonic sensors with unprecedented performance for a broad range of applications. Keywords:Surface plasmon resonances, stimulated emission, plasmon lasers, sensors Surface plasmons are quasiparticles of coupled photons and electrons excited at the metal surface [1]. They can be tightly localised at the metal surface and thus highly sensitive to its dielectric environment. Surface plasmon sensors operate on the principle that small changes in refractive index at the vicinity of metal surface can result in a shift of surface plasmon resonance, which can be detected at optical far field, allowing non-contact, realtime and label-free sensing and detection [2][3][4][5][6]. In the past two decades, the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors based on propagating surface plasmon polaritons have become a prominent tool for characterising and quantifying biomolecular interactions and are perhaps the most extensively utilised optical biosensors [3,7,8]. However, the propagating surface plasmons on flat surface cannot be directly excited due to their large momentum. In most SPR sensors, the Kretschmann configuration of attenuated total reflection is used to excite surface plasmons, which requires precise adjustment of the incident angle of the probing radiation [3,7,8]. Therefore, it remains a challenge for SPR sensors to have point-of-care performance and satisfy modern nanobiotechnology architectures [3,7,9].Localised surface plasmons (LSPs) are another type of surface plasmons that have begun to be used in sensors recently [4][5][6]. In contrast to its propagating counterpart, LSPs can be excited directly in metallic structures with dimensions less than half the wavelength. Single metal particle with tunable spectra and enhanced local field can be used for sensing, which is much more suitable for the modern nanobiotechnology architectures [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. However, localised surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) sensors are with orders of magnitude lower sensitivity compared with propagating SPR sensors [8,13]. Only when measuring refractive index change in the nanometer vicinity to the meta...

Multiline Operation from a Single Plasmon-Assisted Laser

“…In particular, the ability of providing simultaneous coherent radiation at the near infrared region (NIR) and at the green and blue visible spectral regions is relevant to a variety of fields including high resolution multicolor imaging and displays, ultra-extreme sensing, ultra-dense optical circuits or ultrahigh-density data storage. 17,[19][20][21][22] In this work we demonstrate multiline operation from a plasmon-assisted Nd 3+ based nonlinear solid state gain media. Namely, a Y-cut Nd 3+ doped periodically poled MgO:LiNbO3 crystal ( hereafter Nd 3+ : LNB) on which plasmonic chains of Ag nanoparticles (NPs) were photo-deposited on the domain wall surfaces, has been used as active medium.…”

Realization of Perovskite‐Nanowire‐Based Plasmonic Lasers Capable of Mode Modulation

“…Such fast implement of MIS structure for plasmonic laser is of extensive advantages, including relatively low ohmic losses at optical frequencies, strong mode confinement, fast decay dynamics and broad emission spectra tunability . These attractive features enable according plasmonic lasers with promising applications in photonic integration, quantum plasmonic devices and lasing‐enhanced sensing . By replacing the gain nanowire to nanosquare, the radiation loss can be suppressed effectively by adopting total internal reflection of SPP and the plasmonic laser was demonstrated at room temperature .…”

Plasmonic Nanolasers: Pursuing Extreme Lasing Conditions on Nanoscale

“…Further improvements on this kind of laser configuration for high stability or high external quantum efficiency were also demonstrated. Compared with conventional broadband plasmonic resonance, the lasing action significantly narrows the resonance band and enhances the output signal, making it potential for high‐sensitivity plasmonic sensing …”