Dual polarized surface plasmon resonance refractive index sensor via decentering propagation-controlled core sensor

Abstract

Refractive index (RI) is a unique attribute of bio-analytes which highly relies upon their concentrations or the activity/infectivity of the microbes. In this paper, a dual-polarized surface plasmon resonance (SPR) RI sensor based on a decentered propagation-controlled core photonic crystal fiber (PCF) has been studied. Fine-tuned light guidance is realized by scaling down the core air holes. The external surface of the fiber is metalized with a thin gold layer that maximizes the chemical stability by reducing the chances of oxidation. The deposition of the core from the central position reduces the core to analyte distance resulting in efficient coupling as well as greater sensitivity. Finite element method (FEM) based numerical investigation warrants promising sensing performances in wavelength and amplitude interrogation methods. The proposed sensor is viable for the RI range from 1.33 to 1.39, where it demonstrates the highest wavelength sensitivities of 13,700 and 15,400 nm/RIU and highest amplitude sensitivities of 852 RIU-1 and 654 RIU-1 in x-and y-polarized modes, respectively. It also exhibits high sensor resolutions of 7.30 × 10−6 RIU and 6.49 × 10−6 RIU, and high figure of merits of 216 and 256 RIU-1 for x and y-polarized modes, respectively. Along with the liberty of selecting light sources, the highly sensitive nature of the sensor will enable accurate detections of different organic compounds and bio-molecules.