An improved refractive index sensor based on genetic optimization of plasmon waveguide resonance

作者：Bahrami Farshid^*; Maisonneuve Mathieu; Meunier Michel; Aitchison J Stewart; Mojahedi Mo

来源：Optics Express, 2013, 21(18): 20863-20872.

DOI：10.1364/OE.21.020863

Plasmon waveguide resonance (PWR) sensors are particularly useful for biosensing due to their unique ability to perform sensing with two different polarizations. In this paper we report a comprehensive performance comparison between the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor and the PWR sensor in terms of the sensitivity and the refractive index resolution. Both sensors were optimized using a genetic algorithm to acquire their best performance for bulk sensing applications. The experimental results show that the PWR sensor has a refractive index resolution of 5 x 10(-7) RIU which is 6 times smaller than that of the optimized SPR sensor. The TE polarization in the PWR sensor has a resolution of 1.4 x 10(-6) RIU which is smaller than the SPR sensor. The polarization diversity in the PWR sensor is another advantage which can be used to improve the measurement reliability.

• 出版日期2013-9-9