V groove fiber plasmonic sensor with facile resonance tunability

A compact and ultra-convenient fiber optic surface plasmon resonance sensor is proposed here, deploying a V groove fiber. The open V groove simultaneously acts as a microfluidic channel and core, when it is filled with analytes having high refractive index (RI) whereas plasmons are generated by placing a gold nanowire inside the groove. The characteristics of the sensor have been analyzed using the finite element method and the results demonstrate maximum possible wavelength sensitivity of 20,400 nm/RIU, amplitude sensitivity 700 RIU-1 with corresponding wavelength resolution in the order of 10-6 RIU. Further, the sensor is capable of detecting a wide analyte RI ranging from 1.455 to 1.5 and provides easy tunability of both plasmonic resonance and mode loss without modifying the fiber geometry. So, the proposed sensor could be a potential alternative to the state of art high RI fiber sensors due to its convenient design, easy fabrication procedure, and competitive sensing performance.

Automated summary

A compact and ultra-convenient fiber optic surface plasmon resonance sensor is proposed, utilizing a V groove fiber. The sensor demonstrates high wavelength sensitivity, wide range of analyte detection, convenient design and fabrication, as well as competitive sensing performance.