Enhancement of Fano resonance in metal/dielectric/metal metamaterials at optical regime

Analysis of the water-soluble vitamins based on MIM waveguide structure and Fano resonance

Fano resonance (FR) is extremely sensitive to extremely small changes in the surrounding environment. We first propose an optical nano-refractive index sensor based on Fano resonance, which is applied to the identification of water-soluble vitamins B1, B5 and B6 and the measurement of the concentration of vitamin B1. The sensor can be used to rapidly identify pure vitamins B1, B5, and B6 at a concentration of 1 g/50 mL at 25 °C based on the relationship between the wavelength shift in the FR line spectrum and the refractive index. This work shows that the sensitivity of the sensor can reach 1327.5 nm/RIU, the sensor can be used to rapidly identify vitamins B1, B5, and B6 through changes in refractive index under certain conditions. Moreover, rapid calculation of vitamin B1 solution concentration is achieved based on the relationship between different concentrations of vitamin B1 solution and their corresponding refractive indexes and wavelength shifts in their FR line spectrums, which is an important step for the application of the designed MIM waveguide structures to the fields of biology, chemistry, and medicine.

Free-standing plasmonic nanoarrays for leaky optical waveguiding and sensing

Flat optics nanogratings supported on thin free-standing membranes offer the opportunity to combine narrowband waveguided modes and Rayleigh anomalies for sensitive and tunable biosensing. At the surface of high-refractive index Si₃N₄ membranes we engineered lithographic nanogratings based on plasmonic nanostripes, demonstrating the excitation of sharp waveguided modes and lattice resonances. We achieved fine tuning of these optical modes over a broadband Visible and Near-Infrared spectrum, in full agreement with numerical calculations. This possibility allowed us to select sharp waveguided modes supporting strong near-field amplification, extending for hundreds of nanometres out of the grating and enabling versatile biosensing applications. We demonstrate the potential of this flat-optics platform by devising a proof-of-concept nanofluidic refractive index sensor exploiting the long-range waveguided mode operating at the sub-picoliter scale. This free-standing device configuration, that could be further engineered at the nanoscale, highlights the strong potential of flat-optics nanoarrays in optofluidics and nanofluidic biosensing.

Controlling Tamm phonons using hBN and a distributed Bragg reflector for narrowband refractive index sensing

Optical Tamm state with sharp reflection dip provides the sensing potential combined with high sensitivity. In this paper, we numerically demonstrate that narrowband refractive index sensing can be realized in a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) structure with hexagonal boron nitride (hBN). Here, we show that the sensitivity and narrowband properties can not only be regularly governed by different analyte thickness but also exhibit dependence on the number of DBR pairs and the thickness of the hBN layer. With varying the analyte index and optimized analyte thickness, the deep reflectance dip can be sustained with the sensitivity (figure of merit, FOM) close to 3.02 µm/RIU (1093/RIU). In addition, the different analyte categories can be detected through adjusting the thickness of the analyte-filled cavity. High sensitivity, combined with ultra-high FOM originated from strong Tamm phonon mode, offers a promising platform to detect the smallest variation of the refractive index.

Asymmetric transmission of light waves in a photonic crystal waveguide heterostructure with complete bandgaps

Here, we theoretically present an on-chip nanophotonic asymmetric transmission device (ATD) based on the photonic crystal (PhC) waveguide structure with complete photonic bandgaps (CPBGs). The ATD comprises two-dimensional silica and germanium PhCs with CPBGs, within which line defects are introduced to create highly efficient waveguides to achieve high forward transmittance. In the meantime, the total internal reflection principle is applied to block the backward incidence, achieving asymmetric transmission. We optimize the design of the PhCs and the waveguide structure by scanning different structure parameters. The optimized ATD shows a high forward transmittance of 0.581 and contrast ratio of 0.989 at the wavelength of 1582 nm for TE mode. The results deepen the understanding and open up the new possibility in designing novel ATDs. The on-chip ATD will find broad applications in optical communications and quantum computing.

Optical properties of plasmonic nanopore arrays prepared by electron beam and colloidal lithography

Solid state nanopores are central structures for many applications. To date, much effort has been spent on controlled fabrication of single nanopores, while relatively little work has focused on large scale fabrication of arrays of nanopores. In this work we show wafer-scale fabrication of plasmonic nanopores in 50 nm thick silicon nitride membranes with one or two 30 nm gold films, using electron beam lithography with a negative resist or a new version of colloidal lithography. Both approaches offer good control of pore diameter (even below 100 nm) and with high yield (>90%) of intact membranes. Colloidal lithography has the advantage of parallel patterning without expensive equipment. Despite its serial nature, electron beam lithography provides high throughput and can make arbitrary array patterns. Importantly, both methods prevent metal from ending up on the membrane pore sidewalls. The new fabrication methods make it possible to compare the optical properties of structurally identical plasmonic nanopore arrays with either long-range order (e-beam) or short-range order (colloidal). The resonance features in the extinction spectrum are very similar for both structures when the pitch is the same as the characteristic spacing in the self-assembled colloidal pattern. Long-range ordering slightly enhances the magnitude of the extinction maximum and blueshift the transmission maximum by tens of nm. Upon reducing the diameter in long-range ordered arrays, the resonance is reduced in magnitude and the transmission maximum is further blue shifted, just like for short-range ordered arrays. These effects are well explained by interpreting the spectra as Fano interference between the grating-type excitation of propagating surface plasmons and the broad transmission via individual pores in the metal film. Furthermore, we find that only the short-range ordered arrays scatter light, which we attribute to the highly limited effective period in the short-range ordered system and the corresponding lack of coherent suppression of scattering by interference effects.

Controlling Fano resonances in multilayer dielectric gratings towards optical bistable devices

The spectral properties of Fano resonance generated in multilayer dielectric gratings (MDGs) are reported and numerically investigated in this paper. We examine the MDG consisting of numerous identically alternative chalcogenide glass (As₂S₃) and silica (SiO₂) multilayers with several grating widths inscribed through the structure, emphasizing quality (Q) and asymmetric (q) factors. Manipulation of Fano lineshape and its linear characteristics can be achieved by tailoring the layers' amount and grating widths so that the proposed structure can be applicable for several optical applications. Moreover, we demonstrate the switching/bistability behaviors of the MDG at Fano resonance which provide a significant switching intensity reduction compared to the established Lorentzian resonant structures.

Miniaturized power limiter metasurface based on Fano-type resonance and Babinet principle

In this work, we present a miniaturize power limiter, a device with size smaller than that required by the working frequency, made of coupled self-complementary electric inductive-capacitive (CELC) resonator and original electric inductive-capacitive (ELC) structure. We also make use of Babinet principle to ensure both CELC and ELC are resonating at the same frequency. The CELC structure is loaded with a Schottky diode to achieve the effect of a nonlinear power limiter. The constructive interference of CELC and ELC structure produces a new Fano-type resonance peak at a lower frequency. The Fano peak is sharp and able to concentrate electric field at a region between the inner and outer metallic patch of the metastructure, hence enhancing the nonlinear properties of the loaded diode. The Fano peak enhances the maximum isolation of the power limiter due to the local field enhancement at where the diode is loaded. Numerical simulation and experiment are conducted in the S-band frequency to verify the power limiting effect of the device designed and to discuss the formation of Fano peak. The power limiter designed has a maximum isolation of 8.4 dB and a 3-dB isolation bandwidth of 6%.

A graphene based tunable terahertz sensor with double Fano resonances

We propose an ultrasensitive terahertz (THz) sensor consisting of a subwavelength graphene disk and an annular gold ring within a unit cell. The interference between the resonances arising from the graphene disk and the gold ring gives rise to Fano type resonances and enables ultrasensitive sensing. Our full wave electromagnetic simulations show frequency sensitivity as high as 1.9082 THz per refractive index unit (RIU) and a figure of merit (FOM) of 6.5662. Furthermore, the sensing range can be actively tuned by adjusting the Fermi level of graphene.

The sensing characteristics of plasmonic waveguide with a ring resonator

A surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) refractive index sensor which consists of two metal-insulator-metal (MIM) waveguides coupled to each other by a ring resonator is proposed. The transmission properties are numerically simulated by finite element method. The sensing characteristics of such structure are systematically analyzed by investigating the transmission spectrum. The results indicate that there exist three resonance peaks in the transmission spectrum, and all of which have a linear relationship with the refractive index of the material under sensing. Through the optimization of structural parameters, we achieve a theoretical value of the refractive index sensitivity as high as 3460nmRIU(-1). Furthermore, this structure can also be used as a temperature sensor with temperature sensitivity of 1.36nm/°C. This work paves the way toward sensitive nanometer scale refractive index sensor and temperature sensor for design and application.