Enhanced sensing performance by the plasmonic analog of electromagnetically induced transparency in active metamaterials

The gain-assisted plasmonic analog of electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in a metallic metamaterial is investigated for the purpose to enhance the sensing performance of the EIT-like plasmonic structure. The structure is composed of three bars in one unit, two of which are parallel to each other (dark quadrupolar element) but perpendicular to the third bar (bright dipolar element), The results show that, in addition to the high sensitivity to the refractive-index fluctuation of the surrounding medium, the figure of merit for such active EIT-like metamaterials can be greatly enhanced, which is attributed to the amplified narrow transparency peak. (C) 2010 American Institute of Physics. [doi:10.1063/1.3488020]