Highly Sensitive Refractive Index Sensor Based on Plasmonic Bow Tie Configuration

Abstract

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 (n _eff) 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.

Keywords

Bow Tie configuration / plasmonic sensor / metal-insulator-metal waveguide / refractive index sensor

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