A THEORETICAL INVESTIGATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING USING SURFACE PLASMON RESONANCE WAVEGUIDE SENSORS

Abstract A highly sensitive surface plasmon waveguide sensor is designed for detecting changes on the order of 10-5 in the refractive index of a layer adsorbed on the surface. The thickness of such a layer in the range 0.1–0.7 μm can also be accurately determined. We show that the inclusion of a dielectric layer of high refractive index between the metal and the buffer layer allows spectral tuning of the surface plasmon resonance to any convenient wavelength. The effect of structural parameters on device performance, including the use of different metals, is also analyzed.

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