On the sensitivity and signal to noise ratio of a step-index fiber optic surface plasmon resonance sensor with bimetallic layers

In this paper, a theoretical analysis of sensitivity and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of a step-index fiber optic surface plasmon resonance sensor with bimetallic layers (silver and gold) has been carried out. The numerical treatment is based on Kretschmann's SPR theory and Drude model of metals. The light source considered is a p-polarized one. The potential of different bimetallic ratios (gold as outer one) for the sensing purposes has been analyzed. The effect of different design parameters related to optical fiber as well as sensing layer on sensitivity and signal-to-noise ratio of the sensor has been studied. A comparison between selected ray launching and all guided rays launching in terms of sensitivity and SNR has been performed for different bimetallic ratios. The effect of fiber length and FWHM of a Gaussian input on the sensor's performance has also been studied. All these studies, leads to a significant analysis to achieve the best possible design of a fiber optic SPR sensor with maximum sensitivity and SNR simultaneously for both laboratory and remote sensing applications.

[1]  S. Yee,et al.  A fiber-optic chemical sensor based on surface plasmon resonance , 1993 .

[2]  R. J. Bell,et al.  Optical properties of the metals Al, Co, Cu, Au, Fe, Pb, Ni, Pd, Pt, Ag, Ti, and W in the infrared and far infrared. , 1983, Applied optics.

[3]  E. Kretschmann.  Die Bestimmung optischer Konstanten von Metallen durch Anregung von Oberflächenplasmaschwingungen , 1971 .

[4]  A. Otto.  Excitation of nonradiative surface plasma waves in silver by the method of frustrated total reflection , 1968 .

[5]  T. Chinowsky,et al.  Quantitative interpretation of the response of surface plasmon resonance sensors to adsorbed films , 1998 .

[6]  L. Burgess,et al.  Multi-wavelength surface plasmon resonance as an optical sensor for characterizing the complex refractive indices of chemical samples , 1993, Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical.

[7]  Nicole Jaffrezic-Renault,et al.  The effects of polarization of the incident light-modeling and analysis of a SPR multimode optical fiber sensor , 2000 .

[8]  J. Wilkinson,et al.  Waveguide surface plasmon resonance sensors , 1995 .

[9]  G. E. Peterson,et al.  Disperslonless single-mode lightguides with α index profiles , 1981, The Bell System Technical Journal.

[10]  Yuri M. Shirshov,et al.  Bimetallic Layers Increase Sensitivity of Affinity Sensors Based on Surface Plasmon Resonance , 2002 .

[11]  D. Gloge,et al.  Optical power flow in multimode fibers , 1972 .

[12]  H A Macleod,et al.  Surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy as a tool for investigating the biochemical and biophysical properties of membrane protein systems. II: Applications to biological systems. , 1997, Biochimica et biophysica acta.

[13]  B. Liedberg,et al.  Surface plasmon resonance for gas detection and biosensing , 1983 .

[14]  Jiří Homola,et al.  Optical fiber sensor based on surface plasmon excitation , 1995 .

[15]  Günter Gauglitz,et al.  Surface plasmon resonance sensors: review , 1999 .

[16]  J. Homola.  On the sensitivity of surface plasmon resonance sensors with spectral interrogation , 1997 .

[17]  Banshi D. Gupta,et al.  Absorption-based fiber optic surface plasmon resonance sensor: a theoretical evaluation , 2004 .