Microdisplacement sensor based on high-Q nanocavity in slot photonic crystal

Abstract

A microdisplacement sensor formed by a fixed and mobile hole-array based slot photonic crystal (slot-PhC) components is demonstrated. The sensing technique is based on a nanoscale cavity with a high-Q factor in photonic crystals (PhCs). The high-Q nanocavity (H0-cavity) is formed by only laterally shifting two adjacent holes outwards slightly in the opposite direction. The properties of the microdisplacement sensor are analyzed theoretically and simulated using the finite-difference time-domain method. The simulation results indicate that with a proper operating frequency, a quasilinear measurement of microdisplacement is achieved with a sensitivity of 1.0a−1 (a is the lattice constant) in the sensing range between 0.00a and 0.20a. Although other researchers such as Xu et al.1 who demonstrated a micro displacement sensor possessing an equivalent sensitivity, the Q factor is only 40. In this paper, combined with harmonic analysis, we show numerically that an intrinsic Q value of up to 6×103 is achieved. In addition, it is worth mentioning that when the parameters of the H0-cavity are determined, the resonant frequency of the H0-cavity remains approximately constant as the mobile PhC segment shifts along the common axis. It will be easier and more accurate for measurements in practical applications.