Performances of different metals in optical fibre-based surface plasmon resonance sensor

The capability of various metals used in optical fibre-based surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensing is studied theoretically. Four metals, gold (Au), silver (Ag), copper (Cu) and aluminium (Al) are considered for the present study. The performance of the optical fibre-based SPR sensor with four different metals is obtained numerically and compared in detail. The performance of optical fibre-based SPR sensor has been analysed in terms of sensitivity, signal-to-noise (SNR) ratio and quality parameter. It is found that the performance of optical fibre-based SPR sensor with Au metal is better than that of the other three metals. The sensitivity of the optical fibre-based SPR sensor with 50 nm thick and 10 mm long Au metal film of exposed sensing region is 2.373 μm/RIU with good linearity, SNR is 0.724 and quality parameter is 48.281 RIU^− 1. The thickness of the metal film and the length of the exposed sensing region of the optical fibre-based SPR sensor for each metal are also optimized.     

Surface plasmon resonance sensors based on Ag-metalized nanolayer in microstructured optical fibers

Surface plasmon resonance sensors based on Ag-metalized nanolayer in microstructured optical fibers are theoretically analyzed by using finite element method (FEM). In our simulations we use Drude-Lorentz model to describe the metal dielectric constant. The numerical results show that the sensitivity of Ag-metalized SPR sensor could reach 1167 nm/RIU and corresponding resolution is 8.57×10⁻⁵ RIU. Compared to conventional Au-metalized SPR sensors the performance of our device is obviously better.     

Design of a highly sensitive surface plasmon resonance sensor using aluminum-based diffraction grating

A highly-sensitive grating-based surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor is proposed. The angular interrogation method has been used to study the performance of the sensor, and high sensitivity is obtained if the ?1st diffraction order is used to excite surface plasmon (SP). The sensitivity as well as the width of the SPR curves and reflective amplitude is considered for designing the sensor. Compared with the conventional gold (Au)-based or silver (Ag)-based SPR sensor, it is found that the aluminum (Al)-based sensor has the best performance. The oxidation problem of an Al-based SPR sensor has been addressed by coating it with an ultrathin gold film on the surface. Numerical simulations based on rigorous coupled wave analysis (RCWA) show that the sensitivity of the optimized sensor is 245°/RIU (degree per refractive index unit).     

High-Sensitivity Sensor Based on Surface Plasmon Resonance Enhanced Lateral Optical Beam Displacements

We present a new optical sensor based on surface plasmon resonance （SPIt） enhanced lateral optical beam displacements. Compared with the traditional SPIt methods, the new method provides higher sensitivity to the sensor system. Theoretical simulations show that the refractive index （RI） detection sensitivity of the SPR sensor based on the displacement measurement has a strong dependence on the thickness of the metal film. When the optimal thickness of the metal film is selected, the RI resolutlon of the SPIt sensor is predicted to be 2.2 × 10^-7 refractive index units （RIU）. Furthermore, it is found that the incidence angle can be used as a parameter to adjust the operating range of the sensor to different refractive index ranges.     

Fiber-optic surface plasmon resonant sensor with low-index anti-oxidation coating

A multimode fiber-optic surface plasmon resonance(SPR) sensor with a MgF2 film as a modulated layer is studied.The fiber-optic SPR sensor is investigated theoretically,specifically the influence of the dielectric protecting layer,using a four-layer model.The sensor is then fabricated with the optimal parameters suggested by the theoretical simulation.The sensor has a high sensitivity in the analyte refractive index(RI) range of 1.33-1.40.The best sensitivity of 4 464 nm/RIU is achieved in the experiment.The use of dielectric film(MgF2) can not only modulate the resonance wavelength of the sensor,but also protect the silver film from oxidation.     

Dielectric behaviour of ketone-amine binary mixtures at microwave frequencies

Values of dielectric constant (ε′) and loss factor (ε″) have been experimentally determined for binary liquid mixtures of ethyl methyl ketone+ethylenediamine and methyl isobutyl ketone+ethylenediamine at 9.44 GHz microwave frequencies at 30°C. The values ofε′ andε″ have been used to evaluate the molar polarization, apparent polarization and the excess permittivities. Excess refractive index, viscosity and activation energy of viscous flow have also been estimated. These parameters have been used to explain the formation of 1:1 complexes for both the systems.     

基于银/二氧化钛复合膜的表面等离子共振气体传感器

表面等离子体共振是一种免标记的传感技术,当介质周围的介电常数发生改变时,则SPR谐振光谱特性也会随之改变.因此表面等离子体共振传感技术已广泛应用于生物化学和环境监测等领域.由于二氧化钛(TiO2)覆盖层不仅可以保护金属层,还能调谐SPR谐振的光谱强度和谐振波长于近红外波段,应用于1550 nm的光纤传感,其氧化还原反应...     

Improvement of plasmonic field-matter interaction by subwavelength dielectric gratings

We experimentally and theoretically investigate that detection sensitivity in surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensors can be significantly enhanced by employing subwavelength dielectric gratings deposited on a gold film. The enhancement originates from an improvement of field-matter interaction: enhanced evanescent field intensity at the binding region and increased surface reaction area. Using a large-area SiO₂ grating array fabricated by nanoimprint lithography, experimental sensor performance measured by parylene film coating shows that the SPR substrates combined with a dielectric grating provide a notable sensitivity improvement compared to a conventional bare gold film. We also demonstrate that plasmon field can be more confined and enhanced at the dielectric gratings with a larger width. The proposed SPR structure could potentially be useful in a variety of plasmonic applications including high-sensitivity biosensors.     

Bimetallic Silver–Gold Film Waveguide Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensor

Abstract

It is desirable that a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor is highly sensitive to binding interactions within the sensing region, generate evanescent fields with long penetration depths, and utilize a metal film that is very stable even in extreme environmental conditions. In this study, we present the first example of a wavelength-modulated waveguide SPR sensor with a bimetallic silver–gold film for surface plasmon excitation. The underlying silver yields better evanescent field enhancement of the sensing surface, while the overlying gold ensures that the stability of the metallic film is not compromised. It is shown experimentally that in terms of dλ/dn, the bimetallic film waveguide SPR configuration has a sensitivity of 1232 nm/RIU, greater than two times improvement from the 594 nm/RIU achievable with single gold film waveguide SPR sensor. The higher sensitivity, compact nature, and better evanescent field enhancement of this configuration provides the potential to biosensing applications.     

Refractive index sensors based on Ag-metalized nanolayer in microstructured optical fibers

We propose refractive index sensors based on Ag-metalized nanolayer in microstructured optical fibers. The surface plasmon resonance modes and the sensing properties are theoretically analyzed using finite element method (FEM). In the calculation, Drude–Lorentz model is used to describe the Metal Dielectric constant. The calculation results show that the sensitivity of Ag-metalized SPR sensor can reach 1500 nm/RIU corresponding to a resolution of 6.67 × 10^?5 RIU. Comparing with conventional detecting material-Au under the same structure, the sensitivity and 3 dB bandwidth of our device are better.     

Performance analysis of surface plasmon resonance sensor with high-order absentee layer

A surface plasmon resonance(SPR) sensor with a high-order absentee layer on the top of metallic film is proposed.The performance of the SPR sensor with NaCl, MgO, TiO_2 or AlAs high-order absentee layer is analyzed theoretically. The results indicate that the sensitivity and the full width at half maximum of those SPR sensors decrease with the increasing of the order of absentee layer, but the variation of the figure of merit(FOM) depends on the refractive index of absentee layer.By improving the order of absentee layer with high-refractive-index, the FOM of the SPR sensor can be enhanced. The maximum value of FOM for the SPR sensor with high-order TiO_2(or AlAs) absentee layer is 1.059%(or 2.587%) higher than the one with one-order absentee layer. It is believed the proposed SPR sensor with high-order absentee layer will be helpful for developing the high-performance SPR sensors.     

Electrical conductivity and dielectric constant of A-type Nd2O3

The measurements of electrical conductivity (σ) from 300 to 1200 K and dielectric constant (ε′) from 4·2 to 1200 K of A-type Nd₂O₂ pellets are reported here. Electrical conductivity (σ) data can be explained in terms of impurity. The dielectric constant (ε′) increases slowly up to 500 K as is expected for ionic solids. The increase ofε′ becomes much faster above 500 K, which is attributed to space charge polarization of thermally generated charge carriers.     

Sensitivity enhancement for a multimode fiber sensor with an axisymmetric metal grating layer

This paper proposes a novel design for a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) fiber sensor with an axisymmetric sub-wavelength metal grating layer. The relationship between the sensor performance (the sensitivity S and the quality factor Q of the SPR dip) and the characteristic parameters are investigated. Numerical simulation results show that the proposed sensor can achieve a maximum sensitivity of 13,000 nm/RIU (refractive index unit) for a refractive index range from 1.3 to 1.4.     

Effect of illumination on a dielectric nonlinearity in Cr-doped SBN-75 single crystal

The dielectric nonlinearity in an SBN-75 single crystal doped with 0.01 at % Cr was investigated in the vicinity of a diffuse phase transition by studying the reverse dielectric dependences ε′(E ₌). The influence of illumination and exposure (aging) on the behavior of ε′(E ₌) was demonstrated. A reduction in the dielectric memory effect after sample illumination was detected.     

Tuning the number of plasmon band in silver ellipsoidal nanoshell: refractive index sensing based on plasmon blending and splitting

Because of the geometric features of both rod and shell, dielectric-silver core–shell ellipsoidal nanostructure with 12–40 nm semi-major axis may bring forth four surface plasmon resonance (SPR) absorption peaks at most. Theoretical calculations based on quasi-static approximation show that there is surrounding refractive index-dependent plasmon blending and splitting in the absorption spectra, which makes the number of plasmon band of the silver ellipsoidal nanoshell is tunable. The sensitivity of the plasmon blending and splitting to the surrounding refractive index may be improved by increasing the shell thickness, aspect ratio or core refractive index. This local refractive index dependent-plasmon blending and splitting presents a new sensing picture based on tuning the number of SPR absorption peaks.     

Hybrid photonic surface-plasmon-polariton ring resonators for sensing applications

We introduce a hybrid photonic surface plasmon ring resonator which consists of a silicon nitride (Si₃N₄) dielectric traveling-wave ring resonator vertically coupled to a thin layer of metallic strip ring resonator made of Silver (Ag) on top. The cladding is assumed to be porous alumina on top of the metal layer, which provides more surface area for the adsorption of target molecules and their efficient interaction with the surface plasmon wave excited at the metal-cladding interface. Simulations show that this hybrid structure has a large refractive index sensitivity due to the excitation of surface plasmon waves and also a relatively narrow resonance linewidth due to the large quality factor of the photonic ring resonator. The Finite Element method is used to systematically design the hybrid structure and to investigate the performance of the hybrid resonator as a refractive index sensor. The proposed structure is very compact and can be implemented on a chip in an integrated platform. Thus, it can be used for lab-on-a-chip sensing applications and is capable of being spectrally and spatially multiplexed for muti-analyte sensing.     

Fiber optic sensor based on surface plasmon resonance with nanoparticle films

This paper reports on a novel design of a fiber optic surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor based on nanoparticle metal film. The performance of the proposed sensor in terms of its signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and sensitivity under different conditions related to the film with spherical gold nanoparticles embedded in a host material is theoretically analyzed. In particular, the effect of the parameters such as gold particle size, film thickness, and refractive index of host material is studied and the possible explanation, whenever required, is given. The numerical results presented in this paper leads to fulfill the requirement of significant optimization of the important design parameters to achieve a high SNR and sensitivity of a fiber optic SPR sensor with nanoparticle films.     

Frequency dependence of the complex dielectric constant of poly(ethylene oxide) under hydrostatic pressure

Summary Electrical-impedance measurements have been made in the frequency range 5 Hz to10 MHz in pure poly(ethylene oxide) having a molecular weight of 600 000 from 254 K nearly up to the melting point of the crystalline phase (about 330 K). As the temperature approaches the melting point there are large increases in the realε′ and imaginaryε″ parts of the dielectric constant. The frequency dependence ofε′ is characterized by a primary-relaxation process, whose frequency increases with increasing temperature as a consequence of decrease of the average structural relaxation time. There is strong evidence that this low-frequency dispersion rises mainly from the diffusive transport of localised charge carriers rather than a purely orientation relaxation process. In addition the effects of hydrostatic pressure (0–25 Gpa) on the frequency dependences of the realε′ and imaginaryε″ parts of the dielectric constant have been measured in the same temperature range. Paper presented at the I International Conference on Scaling Concepts and Complex Fluids, Copanello, Italy, July 4–8, 1994.     

Space-charge relaxation and electrical conduction in?K0.5Na0.5NbO3 at high temperatures

Sodium potassium niobate K_0.5Na_0.5NbO₃(KNN) ceramic was synthesized by a solid-state technique. The X-ray diffraction of the sample at room temperature showed a monoclinic phase. The real part (ε′) and imaginary part (ε″) of dielectric permittivity of the sample were measured in a frequency range from 40 Hz to 1 MHz and in a temperature range from 350 to 850 K. The ε′ deviated from Curie–Weiss law above 702 K, due to additional dielectric contributions resulting from universal dielectric response and thermally activated space charges at high temperatures. This anomaly arose from a Debye dielectric dispersion that slowed down following an Arrhenius law. We have established a link between the dielectric relaxation and the conductivity.     

Concentration-related enhancement of the sensitivity of surface plasmon resonance of metallic nanoparticles to the characteristics of a dielectric environment

We present the results of theoretical and experimental studies of the optical attenuation spectra of planar nanocomposites consisting of close-packed monolayers of metallic nanoparticles placed in different dielectric matrices. We have analyzed the dependence of the spectral position of the collective surface plasmon resonance (collective SPR) on the refractive index of the dielectric environment. The experimental samples were created by successive thermal vaporization under vacuum of a metal and a dielectric. The theoretical calculations were performed using the quasicrystal approximation of multiple wave scattering theory. We have shown that an increase in the concentration of nanoparticles of noble metals shifts the maximum of the collective SPR band toward longer wavelengths, and significantly increases the sensitivity of its spectral position to the refractive index of the dielectric environment. __________ Translated from Zhurnal Prikladnoi Spektroskopii, Vol. 75, No. 4, pp. 568–572, July–August, 2008.