Cavity enhanced ultra-thin aluminum plasmonic resonator for surface enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy

Owing to the advantages of natural abundance, low cost, and amenability to manufacturing processes, aluminum has recently been recognized as a highly promising plasmonic material that attracts extensive research interest. Here, we propose a cavity-enhanced ultra-thin plasmonic resonator for surface enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy. The considered resonator consists of a patterned ultra-thin aluminum grating strips, a dielectric spacer layer and a reflective layer. In such structure, the resonance absorption is enhanced by the cavity formed between the patterned aluminum strips and the reflective layer. It is demonstrated that the spectral features of the resonator can be tuned by adjusting the structural parameters. Furthermore, in order to achieve a deep and broad spectral line shape, the spacer layer thickness should be properly designed to realize the simultaneous resonances for the electric and the magnetic excitations. The enhanced infrared absorption characteristics can be used for infrared sensing of the environment. When the resonator is covered with a molecular layer, the resonator can be used as a surface enhanced infrared absorption substrate to enhance the absorption signal of the molecules. A high enhanced factor of 1.15×105 can be achieved when the resonance wavelength of resonator is adjusted to match the desired vibrational mode of the molecules. Such a cavity-enhanced plasmonic resonator, which is easy for practical fabrication, is expected to have potential applications for infrared sensing with high-performance.