Spectrometer-Free Graphene Plasmonics Based Refractive Index Sensor

We propose a spectrometer-free refractive index sensor based on a graphene plasmonic structure. The spectrometer-free feature of the device is realized thanks to the dynamic tunability of graphene’s chemical potential, through electrostatic biasing. The proposed sensor exhibits a 1566 nm/RIU sensiti...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Li Zhang, Mohamed Farhat, Khaled Nabil Salama
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-04-01
Series:Sensors
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/20/8/2347
Description
Summary:We propose a spectrometer-free refractive index sensor based on a graphene plasmonic structure. The spectrometer-free feature of the device is realized thanks to the dynamic tunability of graphene’s chemical potential, through electrostatic biasing. The proposed sensor exhibits a 1566 nm/RIU sensitivity, a 250.6 RIU<sup>−1</sup> figure of merit in the optical mode of operation and a 713.2 meV/RIU sensitivity, a 246.8 RIU<sup>−1</sup> figure of merit in the electrical mode of operation. This performance outlines the optimized operation of this spectrometer-free sensor that simplifies its design and can bring terahertz sensing one step closer to its practical realization, with promising applications in biosensing and/or gas sensing.
ISSN:1424-8220