Ultrahigh sensitivity refractive index sensor of a D-shaped PCF based on surface plasmon resonance

Abstract

We propose a D-shaped photonic crystal fiber (PCF) refractive index sensor with ultrahigh sensitivity and a wide detection range. The gold layer is deposited on the polished surface, avoiding filling or coating inside the air holes of the PCF. The influences of the gold layer thickness and the diameter of the larger air holes are investigated. The sensing characteristics of the proposed sensor are analyzed by the finite element method. The maximum sensitivity can reach 31,000 nm/RIU, and the refractive index detection range is from 1.32 to 1.40. Our proposed PCF has excellent sensing characteristics and is competitive in sensing devices.

A Comprehensive Review of Optical Fiber Refractometers: Toward a Standard Comparative Criterion

“…Though a heterogeneous group, the sensitivity values are not too dispersed. They typically show sensitivities of thousands of nm per RIU, with exceptional cases where tens of thousands of nm per RIU are experimentally attained . Regarding the Q factor, the values obtained for this parameter are low, only in exceptional cases exceeding 100 .…”

“…However, PCF polishing is not easy and requires very precise alignment and control tools in order to obtain the desired results, which has severely limited the experimental realization of this kind of refractometers. On the other hand, the broad range of combinations between polishing depth, PCF structure, and resonance‐supporting material has given numerous theoretical studies, summarized in Table , which shows the potential of this structure for gas, chemical, and biosensing applications.…”

Research on Dual-Channel and Dual-core Plasmonic Sensor Based Photonic Crystal Fiber for Refractive Index Sensing

“…The SPR sensors based photonics crystal fiber (PCF) have overcome above drawbacks due to small size [14], high integration and miniaturization of PCF [15]. In addition, the PCF with flexible structure design [16] and low transmission loss [17] is easy to satisfy the phase matching and achieve a strong coupling between the core mode and SPR mode [18], which makes the PCF-SPR sensors become a research hotspot.…”

Sensitivity Enhancement of Modified D-Shaped Microchannel PCF-Based Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensor

“…All the tiny, big, and no air holes can be constructed using thin and thick capillaries, respectively [ 20 ]. Immediately after finishing the fabrication, the polishing process can be utilized to style the D-shaped design as well as to produce microchannel [ 19 , 21 ]. In this case, the chemical deposition method was applied to coat TiO 2 and plasmonic material on the glassy surface [ 3 , 16 , 22 ].…”