Influence of spherical anisotropy on optical mass sensing in plasmonic-molecular optomechanics

We use an all-optical pump-probe method to develop a mass-sensing mechanism in a molecular plasmonic system at room temperature. The system consists of a doubly clamped graphene nanoribbon that parametrically interacts with two types of isotropic and anisotropic spherical plasmonic cavities in the presence of a strong pump field and a weak probe pulse. Based on the mode-selective quantization scheme and analogy with the canonical model of the cavity optomechanics, we formulate the Hamiltonian of the system in terms of the electromagnetic Green's tensor. In this manner, we derive an explicit form of the size-dependent optomechanical coupling function and plasmonic damping rate, which include the modal, geometrical, and material features of the plasmonic structure. Engineering material features of the plasmonic nanostructure, we find that the intensity of the probe-field transmission spectrum for radially anisotropic spherical nanocavity is enhanced significantly compared to the silver sphere nanocavity due to the mode volume reduction. This scheme can allow us to achieve the minimum measurable mass Am approximate to 10-24 kg at room temperature.

Automated summary

In this study, an all-optical pump-probe method was used to develop a mass-sensing mechanism in a molecular plasmonic system at room temperature. The results showed that the intensity of the probe-field transmission spectrum can be significantly enhanced by engineering the material features of the plasmonic nanostructure.