Surface plasmon resonance optical cavity enhanced refractive index sensing

0396520 - ÚFE 2014 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Giorgini, A. - Avino, S. - Malara, P. - Gagliardi, G. - Casalino, M. - Coppola, G. - Iodice, M. - Adam, Pavel - Chadt, Karel - Homola, Jiří - De Natale, P.
Surface plasmon resonance optical cavity enhanced refractive index sensing.
Optics Letters. Roč. 38, č. 11 (2013), s. 1951-1953. ISSN 0146-9592. E-ISSN 1539-4794
R&D Projects: GA ČR GBP205/12/G118
Institutional support: RVO:67985882
Keywords : Resonators * Surface plasmons * Optical sensing and sensors
Subject RIV: BH - Optics, Masers, Lasers
Impact factor: 3.179, year: 2013

We report on a method for surface plasmon resonance (SPR) refractive index sensing based on direct time-domain measurements. An optical resonator is built around an SPR sensor, and its photon lifetime is measured as a function of loss induced by refractive index variations. The method does not rely on any spectroscopic analysis or direct intensity measurement. Time-domain measurements are practically immune to light intensity fluctuations and thus lead to high resolution. A proof of concept experiment is carried out in which a sensor response to liquid samples of different refractive indices is measured. A refractive index resolution of the current system, extrapolated from the reproducibility of cavity-decay time determinations over 133 s, is found to be about 10−5  RIU. The possibility of long-term averaging suggests that measurements with a resolution better than 10−7  RIU/√Hz are within reach.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0224281