Refractive index sensing performance analysis of photonic crystal containing graphene based on optical Tamm state

A photonic crystal's refractive index sensor is proposed based on the photonic crystal (PC) optical properties and the surface wave resonance principle. The optical Tamm state existing at the interface between one-dimensional (1D) PCs and the metal layer can overcome the disadvantage of the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor in which the incident light can only be TM polarized light. The resonant wavelength can be changed by adjusting the optical parameters of the PC. Through coating the metal surface with graphene, the resolution and sensitivity of the sensor can be improved obviously. The relationship model between the graphene parameters and the reflectivity is established by analyzing the reflective properties of the graphene. In the numerical simulation, the graphene layer is optimized to improve the refractive index sensing properties. The numerical simulation results show that the quality factor (Q value) can attain to 1418.2 and the sensitivity is about 1178.6 nm RIU-1, which can demonstrate the effectiveness of the senor structure and provide some theoretical references for the design of the refractive index sensors with high Q value and sensitivity.