Extending the Frequency Range of Surface Plasmon Polariton Mode with Meta-Material

Abstract

The frequency range that surface plasmon polariton (SPP) mode exists is mainly limited by the metal material. With high permittivity dielectrics above metal surface, the SPP mode at high frequency has extremely large loss or can be cutoff, which limits the potential applications of SPP in the field of optical interconnection, active SPP devices and so on. To extend the frequency range of SPP mode, the surface mode guided by metal/dielectric multilayers meta-material has been studied based on the theory of electromagnetic field. It is demonstrated that surface mode not only could be supported by the meta-material but also extends the frequency to where conventional metal SPP cannot exist. Meanwhile, the characteristics of this surface mode, such as dispersion relation, frequency range, propagation loss and skin depth in meta-material and dielectrics, are also studied. It is indicated that, by varying the structure parameters, the meta-material guided SPP mode presents its advantages and flexibility over traditional metal one.

Recent advances in the metamaterial and metasurface-based biosensor in the gigahertz, terahertz, and optical frequency domains

“…However, SPR is not routinely detected in the GHz and THz frequency domains in the same way that it is in the optical range. Therefore, plasmonic components can be included in metamaterials or metasurfaces to improve sensitivity and selectivity for biosensing applications [ 45 , 52 ]. We will focus on this mechanism in the optical frequency domain only for our work.…”

“…Biosensors often require functionalization with biomolecules or receptors to selectively capture target analytes. Ensuring proper alignment and compatibility between biosensing elements and metamaterials/metasurfaces can be a technical challenge in the fabrication process [ 35 , 52 , 85 ]. The use of biosensing in the THz range may overcome some of the manufacturing challenges in the GHz range in terms of miniaturization, advanced fabrication techniques, material selection, and spectral signatures [ 52 ].…”