Light Humidity Sensor of Surface Plasmon Resonance by Symmetric Metal Film

Abstract

The field of plasmonics has experienced a renaissance in recent years by providing a large variety of new physical effects and applications. Here, we demonstrate a light humidity sensor of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) by a symmetric metal film, which uses P polarised light of emergent He–Ne laser to stimulate SPR. Resonance angle change received by the spectrum detector can determine humidity via the relationship between humidity and effective refractive index. When the relatively short wavelengths are shown in the model, the evanescent wave penetration depth is shallow, resonance state is weak and energy loss is low. The opposite results are obtained, when the wavelength is long. Also, with increasing thickness, the resonance peak becomes acute, thereby indicating the improvement in detection accuracy. When the metal thickness of our model is 50 nm, the resonance peak of the reflection spectrum is narrower, accuracy is high and reflectivity is close to 0. By analysing the experimental results, the SPR resonance phenomenon is shown. The electromagnetic field energy is highly concentrated near the interface between the metal and SiO2, which appears highly localized. The resolution of the structure can reach 0.37% RH (relative humidity), which is significantly more than the resolution of capacitive humidity sensor, i.e., resolution is usually 1% RH to 2% RH. The optical sensor of our development can provide a key device for long-distance transmission sensing, in special conditions such as low temperature.