Localized surface plasmon resonances in graphene ribbon arrays for sensing of dielectric environment at infrared frequencies

High confinement of surface plasmon polaritons in graphene at infrared frequencies enhances the light-matter interaction and can be used for the sensing of the environment. The considered sensing platform consists of parallel graphene ribbons which enables efficient coupling of an electromagnetic field into localized surface plasmons. Changes in the environment are then detected by measuring the resulting frequency shifts of the plasmonic resonances. It is shown that the graphene ribbons have the sensitivity comparable to the sensitivity of noble metal nanoparticles at visible frequencies, which enable sensing of only several nanometers thick films at wavelengths around ten microns. At the same time, the tunability of graphene plasmons enables a design of broadband substrates for surface enhanced infrared absorption of thin films. By changing the Fermi level in graphene, the plasmonic resonance of graphene ribbons can be adjusted to desired vibrational mode which facilitates detection of multiple absorption bands. (C) 2013 American Institute of Physics. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.4773474]