High Sensitivity Integrated Visible to Mid-Infrared Nonlinear Plasmonic Sensor (original) (raw)

Nonlinear infrared plasmonic waveguide arrays

Nano Research, 2016

The large negative permittivity of noble metals in the infrared region prevents the possibility of highly confined plasmons in simple waveguide structures such as thin films or rods. This is a critical obstacle to applications of nonlinear plasmonics in the telecommunication wavelength region. We theoretically propose

A MEMS-Based Quad-Wavelength Hybrid Plasmonic–Pyroelectric Infrared Detector

Micromachines

Spectrally selective detection is of crucial importance for diverse modern spectroscopic applications such as multi-wavelength pyrometry, non-dispersive infrared gas sensing, biomedical analysis, flame detection, and thermal imaging. This paper reports a quad-wavelength hybrid plasmonic–pyroelectric detector that exhibited spectrally selective infrared detection at four wavelengths—3.3, 3.7, 4.1, and 4.5 μm. The narrowband detection was achieved by coupling the incident infrared light to the resonant modes of the four different plasmonic perfect absorbers based on Al-disk-array placed on a Al2O3–Al bilayer. These absorbers were directly integrated on top of a zinc oxide thin film functioning as a pyroelectric transducer. The device was fabricated using micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) technology to optimize the spectral responsivity. The proposed detector operated at room temperature and exhibited a responsivity of approximately 100–140 mV/W with a full width at half maximum of...

Nonlinear plasmonics with gold nanoparticle antennas

Journal of Optics A: Pure and Applied Optics, 2009

We investigate the nonlinear optical properties of gold nanoparticle pairs. Two excitation beams of frequencies ω 1 and ω 2 are used to induce nonlinear polarizations at the junction of a particle dimer. Nonlinearities of the second and third order can be controllably induced as a function of the dimer geometry, leading predominantly to second-harmonic generation (SHG), sum frequency generation (SFG) and four-wave mixing (4WM). Due to their center symmetry, dimers with identical particle diameters give rise to a very weak second-order response, without affecting the third-order response. Therefore, a sharp probe functionalized with a symmetric metal dimer acts as a nanoscale photon source emitting narrow-band photons of frequency 2ω 1 − ω 2 . We demonstrate that this source can be employed as a near-field optical probe for high-resolution fluorescence imaging.

Infra-Red Plasmonic Sensors

2017

Plasmonic sensors exploiting the Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance (LSPR) of noble metal nanoparticles are common in the visual spectrum. However, for bio-sensors the near infra-red (NIR) windows (600 nm – 900 nm and 1000 nm -1400 nm) are of interest, as it is a region where the absorption coefficient of water, melaninm deoxy- and hemoglobin are all low. The first part of this paper reviews the work that has been undertaken on using gold (Au) and silver (Ag) particles in Metal Enhanced Fluorescence (MEF) in the NIR. Despite this success there are limitations, as there is only a narrow band in the visual and NIR where losses are low for traditional plasmonic materials. Further, noble metals are not compatible with standard silicon manufacturing processes, making it challenging to produce on-chip integrated plasmonic sensors with Au or Ag. Therefore, it is desirable to use different materials for plasmonic chemical and biological sensing, that are foundry-compatible with silic...

Design of mid infrared high sensitive metal-insulator-metal plasmonic sensor

Chinese Journal of Physics, 2019

This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. Highlights-Improvement of transmittance level by 118.08% compared to the initial design.-The best achieved sensor resolution of refractive index with wavelength resolution of 0.01 nm.-The best achieved sensitivity of the proposed design 2602.5 nm/RIU.-Competitive sensor performance is achieved compared with literatures.

Nonlinear and wavelength-tunable plasmonic metasurfaces and devices

2014

Wavelength-tunable optical response from solid-state optoelectronic devices is a desired feature for a variety of applications such as spectroscopy, laser emission tuning, and telecommunications. Nonlinear optical response, on the other hand, has an important role in modern photonic functionalities, including efficient frequency conversions, alloptical signal processing, and ultrafast switching. This study presents the development of optical devices with wavelength tunable or nonlinear optical functionality based on plasmonic effects. For the first part of this study, widely wavelength tunable optical bandpass filters based on the unique properties of long-range surface plasmon polaritons (LR SPP) are presented. Planar metal stripe waveguides surrounded by two different cladding layers that have dissimilar refractive index dispersions were used to develop a wide wavelength tuning. The concept was demonstrated using a set of index-matching fluids and over 200nm of wavelength tuning was achieved with only 0.004 of index variation. For practical application of the proposed concept, a thermo-optic polymer was used to develop a widely tunable thermo-optic bandpass filter and over 220 nm of wavelength tuning was achieved with only 8 ºC of temperature variation.

Wavelength-Dependent Third-Harmonic Generation in Plasmonic Gold Nanoantennas: Quantitative Determination of the d-Band Influence

ACS Photonics, 2018

Plasmonic gold nanoantennas are highly efficient nanoscale nonlinear light converters. The nanoantennas provide large resonant light interaction cross sections as well as strongly enhanced local fields. The actual frequency conversion, however, takes places inside the gold volume and is thus ultimately determined by the microscopic gold nonlinearity which has been found to significantly surpass common bulk nonlinear materials. While the influence of the nanoantenna geometry and hence the plasmonic resonance has been studied in great detail, only little attention has been paid to the microscopic material nonlinearity. Here we show that the microscopic third-order nonlinearity of gold is in fact a resonant one by virtue of interband transitions between the d-and sp-bands. Utilizing a large set of resonant nanoantennas and a fiber-feedback optical parametric oscillator as broadband tunable light source, we show that the radiated third harmonic signals significantly increase at the onset of interband transitions, namely, as soon as the third harmonic becomes resonant with allowed interband transitions. With the help of an anharmonic oscillator model and independent reference measurements on a gold film we can unambiguously demonstrate that the observed third harmonic increase is related to a strongly wavelength-dependent microscopic third-order gold nonlinearity, which is additionally underlined by quantitative agreement between simulation and measurement. This additional tuning parameter allows further manipulation and optimization of nonlinear nanoscale systems and thus renders the investigation of other plasmonic materials, especially with interband transitions located in the ultraviolet range, highly intriguing.

Mid-infrared plasmonic multispectral filters

Scientific Reports

A miniaturized mid-infrared spectral analyzer will find a wide range of applications as a portable device in non-invasive disease diagnosis, environmental monitoring, food safety and others. In this work, we report an integrated spectral analyzer that can be constructed by using Au subwavelength hole arrays as multispectral filters. The hole arrays were fabricated with CMOS compatible processes. The transmission peak of the subwavelength hole arrays is continuously tuned from 3 μm to 14 μm by linearly increasing the periodicity of the holes in each array. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) microscopy was applied to spatially map out the transmission of the hole arrays. The results show that each hole array can selectively allow for transmission at a specific wavelength. We further constructed an IR spectral analyzer model based on the microhole multispectral filters to retrieve IR spectral information of two test samples. Our experimental results show that the spectra from the integrated spectral analyzer follow nearly the same pattern of the FTIR spectra of the test samples, proving the potential of the miniaturized spectral analyzer for chemical analysis. Most chemicals have distinct absorption signatures in mid-infrared spectral range. Spectral analysis provides a highly sensitive and selective method for chemical detection, which may find a wide range of applications in gas sensing 1 , noninvasive disease diagnosis 2,3 , security monitoring 4 and others 5-7. For example, two-channel spectral analyzers (InfraTec) for gas sensing have been commercialized by using two separate traditional Fabry-Perot spectral filters. The filtering spectrum of Fabry-Perot filters is determined by the cavity thickness. Each cavity thickness requires one step of microfabrication. It is extremely challenging to integrate a large number of Fabry-Perot filters on chip for constructing a smart multispectral analyzer. More importantly, the "stop band" of Fabry-Perot filters is only a few micrometers wide 8 due to the small contrast in refractive index of the available materials that are transparent in mid-infrared. It is difficult to avoid the cross-talk of the spectral filters in the wide mid-infrared spectrum range (3 µm-30 µm). Surface plasmon resonances (SPR) of noble and transition metals are well known for their capability to enhance light intensity in visible and near infrared range 9,10. Nanostructured metal films have been widely used to construct RGB color filters in visible spectrum 11,12 , aiming to replace the classical organic color filters in digital cameras. Analogically, metallic microhole arrays (MHAs) were also presented for enhancing transmission of mid-infrared light 13,14 , and even terahertz radiation 15,16. Transmission peaks at specific wavelengths could be achieved by properly designing metal MHAs, providing a new approach to realize multispectral infrared photodetectors 17. Here we report plasmonic multispectral filters in mid-infrared that are constructed using a subwavelength hole array in evaporated Au thin film. Nanohole arrays in Au thin film were previously reported as color filters in visible spectrum 18. The plasmonic resonance in the metal film can be shifted from visible to mid-infrared range (3 µm to 14 µm) simply by increasing the size of nanoholes to microscale. The experimental results show that the microhole arrays on germanium (Ge) substrate have a main spectral peak of 60% transmittance with a full width at half maximum (FWHM) of ~1.5 µm in addition to some side spectral lobes. The transmission spatial distribution of 30 microhole arrays was also mapped out by a microscopic FTIR spectrometer. Each microhole array shows distinct spectral transmission although some crosstalk is observed for microhole arrays with close physical dimensions.

Properties and sensing characteristics of surface-plasmon resonance in infrared light

Journal of the Optical Society of America. A, Optics, image science, and vision, 2003

Conditions of surface-plasmon resonance (SPR) production with use of IR pumping light (800-2300 nm) in the Kretschmann-Raether prism arrangement were investigated. Both calculations and experimental data showed that SPR characteristics in the IR are strongly influenced by the properties of the coupling prism material. Indeed, quite different regularities of plasmon excitation, polarity of sensing response, and sensitivity are observed for two different glasses and silicon. The observed differences in SPR properties are related to essentially different behavior of dispersion characteristics of materials near the SPR coupling point. Methods for improving sensor performance and miniaturizing the SPR technique using novel coupling materials (silicon) are discussed.