Three-Dimensional Numerical Investigation of an Improved Surface Plasmon Resonance Waveguide Sensor

Abstract

Abstract-A light-guiding structure is investigated to improve the performance of a surface plasmon resonance waveguide sensor using the three-dimensional beam-propagation method. The absorption strength at the resonance wavelength is examined in terms of the core width. Calculations show that a waveguide with a wide core supporting higher order modes leads to strong absorption comparable to the two-dimensional model. Besides, embedding the core in a substrate is quite effective in obtaining a sharp dip in the wavelength response, i.e., a full-width at half-minimum is reduced from 11 to 5 nm, when the core is embedded by 0.3 m. This contributes to improved measurement precision.Index Terms-Beam-propagation method (BPM), optical waveguide, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor, waveguide-based sensor.

Transmittance and surface intensity in 3D composite plasmonic waveguides

“…Thin metal films sandwiched between two semi-infinite dielectric media are known to support bound and a leaky SPP modes with symmetric and anti-symmetric transversemagnetic field distributions across the film thickness [18,19]. Bound or leaky modes can be preferentially excited by controlling the coupling conditions [9,20], and surrounding refractive indices [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26]. It is also known that symmetric-bound SPP modes show the lowest propagation losses and longest propagation distances, and are therefore termed long-range SPPs, in quasi-symmetric [27], as well as, highly asymmetric [28] thin metal film structures.…”

“…The different characteristics of channel waveguide modes compared with slab waveguide modes in terms of field components and distributions and modal velocities mean that more sophisticated 3D models are required for accurate design and fuller understanding of channel waveguide based devices. Several approaches have been adopted to model 3D composite plasmonic waveguide devices including the beam propagation method [13,14]. The beam propagation method 3D approach follows the results obtained by 2D beam propagation method approach having wide enough overlayer which covers the core region.…”

Recent Advances in Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensors for Sensitive Optical Detection of Pathogens

“…Aptamer-based SPR sensors reportedly exhibit uniquely high analytical specificity [65][66][67][68]. Three-dimensional (3D) structure-based SPR platforms possess a higher surface area than their 2D counterparts, which increases the likelihood of the analyte binding to the platform [69][70][71]. Additionally, these nanomaterials are not only highly biocompatible but also have fewer negative environmental impacts.…”

Characteristics of optical glass plate refractive index sensor based on surface plasmon resonance

“…The resonance wave is coupled into a medium of higher index, in which the wave propagates in and induces SPR at each reflections within, and the out coupled output characteristics are analyzed using a spectrometer. Commonly used configuration of SPR sensors includes prism coupler , grating coupler , optical waveguide , and fiber based methods . Here, a novel configuration is proposed, using prisms for in and out coupling, a large optical glass sheet as the waveguide and amplifier for resonant wave, and the output is guided into a multiple channel fiber spectrometer for analysis.…”