Optimization of metal-clad waveguide sensors

The present paper deals with the optimization of metal-clad waveguides for sensor applications to achieve high sensitivity for adlayer and refractive index measurements. By using the Fresnel reflection coefficients both the angular shift and the width of the resonances in the sensorgrams are taken into account. Our optimization shows that it is possible for metal-clad waveguides to achieve a sensitivity improvement of 600% compared to surface-plasmon-resonance sensors. (© 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.