High Refractive Index Sensitivity Research Articles

Five narrow bands terahertz metamaterial absorber based on metal and Dirac semi-metal for high sensitivity refractive index sensing

Abstract A five narrow bands terahertz metamaterial absorber based on metal and Dirac semi-metal for high sensitivity refractive index sensing is designed in this paper. The absorber is a traditional sandwich structure. And the most remarkable difference is that two hybrid materials (metal and Dirac semi-metal) are used in the top layer. The numerical results show five absorption peaks can be achieved at 5.527, 5.759, 7.247, 9.257 and 10.186THz, among which the perfect absorption achieve at 5.759, 7.247 and 10.186THz, respectively. The physical mechanism of the proposed absorber is analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively by electric field distributions and Couple-mode theory. In addition, the sensing application of the proposed absorber is also studied. The sensitivity of the sensing band can reach up to 3.89THz/RIU by computation. Finally, we design a specific application scenario to ensure the accuracy of the absorber in application through calculation. We believe that the absorber we designed will shine brilliantly in the fields of thermal imaging, thermal radiation and photothermal detection.

Ω-Shaped fiber optic LSPR coated with hybridized nanolayers for tumor cell sensing and photothermal treatment

Circulating tumor cell (CTC) in the blood is the main cause of cancer metastasis for death in cancer patients. It is extremely important for cancer diagnosis at an early stage and treatment to simultaneously detect and kill the CTCs. In this work, a new hybridized nanolayer, namely gold nanoparticle/gold nanorods@ Polydopamine (AuNPs/AuNRs@PDA), was coated on the Ω-shaped fiber optics (Ω-FO) for localized surface plasmonic resonance (LSPR) to perform tumor cell sensing and photothermal treatment (PTT). The PDA nanolayer was formed on a bare fiber optic through the self-polymerization of dopamine under mild conditions. The AuNRs and AuNPs were absorbed on the surface of the PDA nanolayer to form a hybridized nanolayer. The hybridized nanolayer-modified Ω-FO LSPR exhibited a high refractive index sensitivity (RIS) of 37.59 (a.u/RIU) and photothermal conversion efficiency. After being modified with the recognition element of aptamer, the Ω-FO LSPR was used to develop a sensitive and specifical tumor cell sensing. Under the irradiation of near-infrared light (NIR) laser, the Ω-FO LSPR can kill the captured tumor cells with the apoptotic/necrotic rate of 62.6 % and low side-effect for the nontarget cells. The FO LSPR sensor realized the dual functions of CTC sensing and PTT, which provided a new idea for the early diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

Synthesis of Structure-Adjustable R-Au/Pt-CdS Nanohybrids with Strong Plasmon Coupling and Improved Photothermal Conversion Performance.

Noble metal nanomaterials with a localized surface plasmon resonance effect exhibit outstanding advantages in areas such as photothermal therapy and photocatalysis. As a unique plasmonic metal nanostructure, gold nanobipyramids have been attracting much interest due to their strong specific local electric field intensity, large optical cross sections, and high refractive index sensitivity. In this study, we propose a novel three-component hetero-nanostructure composed of rough gold nanobipyramids (R-Au NBPs), Pt, and CdS. Initially, purified gold nanobipyramids are regrown to form R-Au NBPs that have a certain degree of roughness. These R-Au NBP substrates with a rough surface provide more hotspots and strengthen the intensity of localized electric fields. Subsequently, Pt and CdS nanoparticles are selectively deposited onto the surface of R-Au NBPs. Pt nanoparticles can provide more active sites. Each component of this hetero-nanostructure directly contacts others, creating multiple electron transfer channels. This novel design allows for tunable localized plasmon resonance wavelengths ranging from the visible to near-infrared regions. These factors contribute to the final superior photothermal conversion performance of the R-Au/Pt-CdS nanohybrids. Under the irradiation of near-infrared light (1064 nm), the photothermal conversion efficiency of R-Au/Pt-CdS reached 38.88%, which is 4.49, 1.5, and 1.22 times higher than that of Au NBPs, R-Au NBPs, and R-Au NBPs/Pt, respectively.

High sensitivity refractive index sensors with different no-core fiber diameters

We investigate refractive index (RI) sensors using no-core fibers with diameters of 250 µm, 125 µm, and 62.5 µm. Experiments show that RI sensors with sizes of 62.5 µm and 250 µm are more sensitive than those with a diameter of 125 µm. The maximum RI sensitivity was 4886 nm/RIU. The RI sensor has a high sensitivity, a wide measurement range, and is insensitive to temperature, making it well-suited for a variety of practical applications.

Two-peak envelope spectrum of a subwavelength grating microring resonator for wide-range and high-sensitivity refractive index sensing

The detectable range and sensitivity play a key role in the accuracy and range of applications available for lab-on-a-chip sensing systems. Here, we propose and numerically demonstrate an on-chip refractive index sensor simultaneously possessing wide detectable range and high sensitivity through monitoring the two-peak envelope spectrum of a subwavelength grating microring resonator. The principle lies in the combination of the envelope spectrum tracking scheme and the light field releasing in subwavelength grating waveguides. The structure of the subwavelength grating microring resonator is designed to adjust the wavelength dependence of its critical coupling condition, so that the two-peak envelope spectrum can be formed and centered at critically coupled wavelengths. By probing the drift of the two-peak envelope spectrum within the C+L band (1530–1625 nm), we lift the free spectral range constraint on the detectable range and broaden it up to 0.46 RIU. Meanwhile, a sensitivity of 444 nm/RIU is achieved. This investigation provides an attractive candidate for high performance integrated sensors, and thus may pave the way for lab-on-chip sensing, especially in application scenarios demanding both wide detectable range and high sensitivity.

Temperature-compensated high-sensitivity refractive index, liquid level and PH sensing realization enabled by a small-period microfiber long period grating cascaded with microfiber Bragg grating

Conventional reported optical fiber sensors could not have both good temperature-compensated characteristic and high PH sensing sensitivity. In this study, we proposed and fabricated a small-period microfiber long period grating (SP-mFLPG) cascaded with a line-by-line microfiber Bragg grating (mFBG) by using femtosecond (fs) laser directly writing technique for high-sensitivity temperature-compensated sensing refractive index(RI), liquid level(LL), PH value. To be the different from traditional LPG devices, the temperature sensitivities of SP-mFLPG was measured as −8.61 pm/℃ owing to the strong coupling occurred between the fundamental mode of TE11 mode and the higher-order mode of TE111, which could be compensated with the mFBG device with a temperature sensitivity of 7.85 pm/℃. On the basis of this temperature-insensitive sensing strategy, our proposed SP-mFLPG sensor can sense RI, LL and pH with high sensitivities of 866.343 nm/RIU, 7.224 nm/mm, −5.70 nm/PH, respectively. Our obtained PH sensitivity is much higher than numerous reported state-of-the-art optical fiber PH sensors. Thus, our proposed optical microfiber device can be found potential applications in real-time measuring some important biochemical reaction procedures.

Multiband highly sensitive metamaterial-based THz absorber for edible oil adulteration sensing

A terahertz (THz) wave technology is very appealing for applications in detection in biomedicine, biological spectroscopy, material characterization, detection, imaging, sensing, and other convenient applications. Metamaterials (MMs) are artificial structures that have structures in a regular periodic arrangement and don’t exist in nature. By utilizing a proposed terahertz metamaterial absorber, a broad spectrum of adulterated lubricants can be detected. It is an efficient detection process that enables the development of a THz detection approach by making use of the metamaterial as a sensor. The proposed terahertz absorber is analyzed and optimized using the CST Microwave Studio 2019 software. The article proposed a multiband THz metamaterial absorber with a unit size of 70 µm. According to the demonstrated results, we can achieve five narrow absorption peaks with perfect absorption within the frequency range between (0.2–4.2) Terahertz. Also, the result shows that, the average absorbance of 99.07% at the resonance frequencies of 0.56, 1.42, 2.676, 3.14, and 3.89 THz. The E (electric) and H (magnetic)-field distributions on the resonator at different resonance frequencies were also analyzed as well as. The recommended metamaterial absorber has a good sensing capability at different resonant frequencies, with refractive index sensitivities of 80 GHz/RIU, 240 GHz/RIU, 480 GHz/RIU, 480 GHz/RIU, and 520 GHz/RIU obtained by modifying the refractive index of the sample holder or the analytic layer, respectively. As a result, the proposed detector has a high refractive index sensitivity, high Q-factor, and high FOM, making it suitable for detecting oil adulteration.

Multifunctional topological photonic crystal device for multichannel frequency routing and highly sensitive refractive index sensing

We propose a novel photonic crystal (PC) structure with C-4 symmetry of the square lattice that utilizes topological edge states (TESs) to achieve multichannel frequency routing and high-sensitivity refractive index (RI) sensing. The proposed system combines trivial and nontrivial unit cells to form a unique lattice arrangement that supports multiple TESs. These states enable the realization of seven distinct output ports, each capable of transmitting a specific frequency, significantly enhancing optical communication systems’ bandwidth and data transfer capabilities. This feature makes the proposed PC structure an ideal candidate for multichannel frequency routing applications. Additionally, the structure incorporates a central cavity that exhibits robust light localization, making it highly sensitive to changes in the surrounding medium’s refractive index. Simulations demonstrate that the proposed structure can achieve RI sensing sensitivity of up to 721 nm/RIU, coupled with a high-quality factor exceeding 105. With its exceptional RI sensing capabilities, the proposed multichannel PC device holds immense potential for various technological advancements in frequency routing.

Fiber-tip-integrated High-sensitivity Refractive Index and High-precision Liquid Level Sensor Based on Surface Plasmon Resonance

Fiber-tip-integrated High-sensitivity Refractive Index and High-precision Liquid Level Sensor Based on Surface Plasmon Resonance

Echelon grating refractive index sensor.

There are few reports on optical refractive index sensors that have both high resonant-wavelength resolution (RWR) and high refractive index sensitivity (RIS). Herein, based on an echelon grating, we design a refractive index sensor that combines the two advantages together. The principal fringe of echelon grating has a small full width at half maximum and a good signal-to-noise ratio, leading to a high RWR. The wavefront splitting interference makes the sensor have high RIS. The large free spectral range (FSR) of the principal fringes expands the dynamic range of the sensor. The experimentally realized RWR, RIS, and FSR are 2 × 10-2 nm, 1.14 × 104 nm/RIU (RIU: refractive index unit), and 130 nm, respectively. The detection limit of refractive index is 1.59 × 10-6 RIU. The dynamic range of the sensor is 1.14 × 10-2 RIU. In addition, there are schemes to improve RWR and RIS, which can further reduce the detection limit of refractive index. The echelon grating refractive index sensor features low detection limit, low cost, high stability, and good robustness.

A high sensitivity refractive index sensor based on microstructure fiber with simple structure and SPR effect

A novel dual-side polished photonic crystal fiber (PCF) based surface plasmon resonance (SPR) polarization filtering and refractive index (RI) sensor is presented in this paper. The cladding of PCF was composed of eight air holes and the outer surface was dual-sided polished and coated with gold film. Finite element method (FEM) was used for the simulation and design of the proposed sensor. Simulation results showed that sensor performance was better in analytes ranging from 1.33 to 1.42 RI. The wavelength and amplitude sensitivities at resonance wavelengths of 1269 and 995 nm were 27400 nm/RIU and −100.43 RIU−1 for an analyte of 1.42 and 1.41 RI, respectively, along with a spectral resolution of 3.64×10−6 RIU. Maximum loss of 52806 dB/m was obtained for an analyte of 1.41 RI towards Y-Polarization (Y-P). An extinction ratio of −105.374 dB was obtained using a fiber transferring length of 2 mm to achieve better polarization filtering effects. The proposed sensor is made of same size air holes which is easy to fabricate, cost effective, and shows better sensitivity and polarization filtering effects than several other sensors. It is expected that the sensor is suitable for wide RI detection range and capable of providing excellent polarization effect. The proposed sensor can be used for various applications including environmental detection, chemical sensing, biosensors, and pharmaceutical inspection.

High sensitivity and low temperature cross-talk magnetic field sensor with ferrofluid-filled in-fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer

A ferrofluid-filled in-fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) is presented and validated for magnetic field sensing. It is constructed by embedding a short capillary tube filled with ferrofluid which is sandwiched between two SMFs through a short MMF at its both ends, and the device is experimentally proved having extreme high refractive index (RI) sensitivity. When the sensor is placed in an external magnetic field, the RI of the ferrofluid changes, causing a shift in the transmission spectrum of the interferometer. Experimental results show that the proposed sensor exhibits a high sensitivity of 8.9657 nm/mT and 4.2642 nm/mT for longitudinal and vertical magnetic field within the range of 0–1.5 mT and 0.8–2.2 mT, respectively. Furthermore, the sensor exhibits excellent low temperature cross-talk in longitudinal and transverse magnetic fields as low as 0.014 mT/°C and 0.030 mT/°C, respectively. The sensor offers advantages such as stable operation, compact size, and robust mechanical structure.

High-sensitivity refractive index sensor based on strong localized surface plasmon resonance.

This study proposes two types of composite structures based on gold nano circular and nano square rings on a gold thin film for plasmonic refractive index sensing. The finite-difference time-domain method was used for simulation and analysis. The nano square ring composite structure showed superior performance, with five surface plasmon resonance modes, and a peak sensitivity and figure of merit in a liquid environment of 1600nm/RIU and 86R I U -1, respectively. The sensing performances of localized surface plasmon resonance modes of both structures are superior to those of the propagating surface plasmon resonance modes. The proposed composite structures can provide a reference for refractive index sensing and have broad application prospects in bio-chemistry.

Azimuthal polarized quasi-bound states in the continuum based on rotational symmetry breaking.

Bound states in the continuum (BICs) allow to obtain an ultrahigh-quality-factor optical cavity. Nevertheless, BICs must be extended in one or more directions, substantially increasing the device footprint. Although super-cavity mode quasi-BICs supported by single nanopillars have been demonstrated recently, their low-quality factor and localized electromagnetic field inside the dielectric nanopillar are insufficient for high-sensitivity refractive index sensing applications. We propose a ring structure rotated by a dielectric sectorial nanostructure, which can achieve a high quality factor by breaking the rotational symmetry of the ring structure with a footprint as small as 3 µm2. As a straightforward application, we demonstrate high performance local refractive index and nanoscale film thickness sensing based on rotational symmetry breaking induced BICs. These BICs reach quality factor and sensitivity of one order of magnitude better than those of conventional super-cavity mode BICs. The proposed method provides insights into the design of compact high quality factor photonic devices, opening up new possibilities for applications in refractive index and nanoscale film thickness sensing.

A five-band terahertz metamaterial absorber with properties of polarization-insensitive and wide-angle tolerance based on bulk Dirac semimetal

We design a bulk Dirac semimetal (BDS) metamaterial-based terahertz absorber consisted of a BDS layer, a dielectric layer and a gold grounding layer from top to bottom, which produces five excellent terahertz absorption peaks having 99.55%, 99.63%, 99.65%, 97.72%, and 99.87% absorption at 0.49 THz, 0.85 THz, 1.68 THz, 2.00 THz, and 2.27 THz, respectively. The five-band BDS-based absorber is polarization-insensitive and wide-angle tolerance, with good absorption in the incident angle range of 0°–60°. The tuning of the Fermi energy level of BDS in the range of 40–70 meV enables the dynamic adjustment of absorption frequencies and absorption rates of these peaks. We also analyze the refractive index sensing sensitivity of five-band BDS-based absorber, it is revealed that when the refractive index of surrounding analyte is changed from 1.0 to 1.8, the refractive indices of the five absorption peaks are 57.75 GHz/RIU, 107.25 GHz/RIU, 101.75 GHz/RIU, 101.75 GHz/RIU, and 134.75 GHz/RIU, which approximately exhibit an enhanced sensing sensitivity as the absorption frequency increases. The design is simultaneously characterized by multiple bands, high absorption, high stability,and high refractive index sensitivity, which should have great potential for application in the fields of terahertz technology.

Fiber optic refractive index sensing using an inline dual semi-distributed interferometer

In this work, we present a fiber optic refractive index (RI) sensor based on a dual inline semi-distributed interferometer (SDI) device. The SDI is formed within a telecom-grade optical fiber by simply splicing a short length of a high-scattering fiber; the presence of a high density of scattering centers induces a distributed cavity effect, forming a low-finesse interferometer. Here, we propose an approach based on two serial SDIs, with few millimeters spacing between the two cavities; the outer SDI encodes the changes of surrounding RI, while the inner probe is RI-insensitive and can be used as a reference. Experimental analysis shows that the dual-SDI device has RI sensitivity of 111.2–466.2 dB/RIU with RI-sensitive mode, and 0.4–3.7 dB/RIU with RI-insensitive mode, with a ratio up to 1165.5 between sensitive and insensitive modes. In addition, the Vernier effect can be interrogated by detecting the wavelength shift of the narrow spectral lines, with sensitivity of 0.303 nm/RIU.The dual-SDI structure maintains the same fabrication ease of a single SDI, since all process is made through splicing and cleaving fibers with a telecom-grade fiber. The key advantage is the availability of modes having both high and near-zero RI sensitivity, which therefore can be used for a referenced RI detection as an in-situ probe.

Ultrasensitive cancer cell sensing based on tapered optical fiber operating near the dispersion turning point

Cancer cell screening is very important for its treatment and prognosis. The screening techniques are required with high sensitivity and specific recognition. Here, an ultrasensitive tapered optical fiber (TOF) biosensor for cancer cell sensing is proposed. The unique property of the dispersion turning point (DTP) in the TOF is utilized to greatly improve the sensing sensitivity. Combined with numerical calculations, the TOF with the extremely high refractive index (RI) sensitivity (close to 18390 nm/RIU) near the DTP is achieved by precisely controlling the diameter of the TOF. In addition, biotin is used to functionalize the TOF for specific recognition of the biotin-overexpressing cancer cells. The sensitivity and selectivity of the TOF were demonstrated by the detection of the biotin receptor protein (streptavidin) and overexpressed cancer cells (lung epithelial adenocarcinoma cells, A549). The experiment results show that the TOF has a low limit of detection (LOD) for streptavidin and cancer cells, which are 28.73 pM and 49 cells/mL respectively. At the same time, the TOF showed the obvious response to another biotin-overexpressed cancer cell (breast cancer cells, 4T1), but is insensitive to normal cells (gastric mucosa cells, GES-1 and mouse epithelioid fibroblasts cells, L929). We believe that the proposed biosensor which exhibited extremely high sensitivity and good selectivity, will have potential application prospects in the field of chemical and biological detection.

RI and temperature sensor based on hybrid sensing mechanism of SPR and MZI using a four-core fiber

A dual-parameter sensor based on a hybrid sensing mechanism of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and Mach–Zehnder interference (MZI) using a four-core fiber (FCF), is proposed and implemented. The designed sensor is fabricated by cascading a sandwich structure of the FCF, multimode fiber and lead-in/out single-mode fiber. The gold-coated FCF as the critical component, enabling the excitation of the SPR and MZI for measuring refractive index (RI) and temperature. The proposed sensor exhibits a high RI sensitivity of 2091 nm/RIU and a temperature sensitivity of 0.0398 nm/°C. The proposed dual-parameter sensor based on FCF provides a new insight for the design of fiber SPR sensor, which can be used to measure multiple physical parameters in various fields such as biochemistry, gene diagnosis, environmental monitoring, and so on.

Multifunctional graphene metamaterials based on polarization-insensitive plasmon-induced transparency.

In this paper, a 4L-shaped graphene patterned polarization-insensitive plasmon-induced transparency (PIT) metamaterial structure is proposed. The photoelectric switch based on this structure supports a variety of light sources, such as linearly polarized light with different polarization directions, left rotation circularly polarized light (LCP) and right rotation circularly polarized light (RCP). And the switch has excellent performance in the case of different light sources, the amplitude modulation is as high as 99.01%, and the insertion loss is as low as 0.04 dB. In addition, the PIT metamaterial has a high refractive index sensitivity of up to 49156 nm/RIU. The group index of the PIT metamaterial is as high as 980, which can achieve excellent slow light effect. This study provides a scheme and guidance for the design of optoelectronic devices.

Highly Sensitive Refractive Index Sensor based on Silicon Nitride Strip Waveguide Directional Coupler

We propose a refractive index sensor, based on grating-assisted directional coupler, by comprising two coupled asymmetric strip waveguides with a top-loaded grating structure. We have studied variation of the sensitivity with the waveguide parameters to optimize the design of the sensor. The proposed sensor is an on-chip device with a high refractive index sensitivity of 104nm/RIU with $ \pm $ 140 nm fabrication tolerance, which is more than two times higher than the reported work, and the sensor can also achieve the ultrahigh sensitivity 105nm/RIU with the fabrication tolerance $ \pm $ 13nm. The sensor has large dynamic range from refractive index 1.0 to 1.55. We have also studied the propagation loss due to side wall roughness of the strip waveguide and found that it does not significantly affect sensor performance.