Room temperature optical mass sensor with an artificial molecular structure based on surface plasmon optomechanics

We propose an optical weighing technique with a sensitivity down to a single atom through the coupling between a surface plasmon and a suspended graphene nanoribbon resonator. The mass is determined via the vibrational frequency shift on the probe absorption spectrum while the atom attaches to the nanoribbon surface. We provide methods to separate out the signals of the ultralow frequency vibrational modes from the strong Rayleigh background, first based on the quantum coupling with a pump-probe scheme. Owing to the spectral enhancement in the surface plasmon and the ultralight mass of the nanoribbon, this scheme results in a narrow linewidth (similar to GHz) and ultrahigh mass sensitivity (similar to 30 yg). Benefitting from the low noises, our optical mass sensor can be achieved at room temperature and reach ultrahigh time resolution. (C) 2018 Chinese Laser Press