Fano resonance and enhanced sensing in the excitation of the surface phonon polariton

Abstract

The surface phonon polariton is a collective oscillation mode of phonons and incident electromagnetic waves in polar dielectric materials. Compared with the surface plasmon polariton, it has low loss and can be applied to the mid-infrared band. A surface phonon resonance sensor based on waveguide-coupling is proposed. The sensor structure is a typical Kretschmann configuration consisting of a germanium (Ge) prism, a silicon carbide (SiC) layer, an indium selenide (In2Se3) film, a titanium dioxide (TiO2) film, and the surrounding dielectric. The reflectivity possesses significant asymmetric Fano resonance dips. In sensing applications, the waveguide-coupling structure yields a sensitivity by intensity of 11278RIU−1 and a figure of merit of 10344RIU−1. Our investigation provides an alternative method for refractive index sensing, thus opening up opportunities for the design of various phonon devices based on Fano resonance.