Nanoblocks embedded in L-shaped nanocavity of a plasmonic sensor for best sensor performance

Abstract

In this work, we proposed a highly sensitive design of a plasmonic sensor which is formed by embedding a periodic array of nanoblocks in L-shaped cavity formed by the metal–insulator–metal waveguide. The nanoblocks are placed in the strong electric field confinement region to further enhance its strength by confining it to a small area. To validate the study, the spectral characteristics of the proposed sensor design is compared to the spectral characteristics of a standard design having the same geometric parameters excluding nanoblocks in the cavity. The study shows that the incorporation of 5 nanoblocks of length 25 nm in the cavity can provide best performance indicators in the form of sensitivity, figure of merit and Q-factor. The sensitivity, figure of merit and Q-factor of the proposed sensor design is 1065 nm/RIU, 251.17 and 343.4 which is significantly higher than the standard L-shape resonator design. The sensor design can be developed with a single fabrication step. Due to the ease of fabrication and the highly responsive nature of the design, it can be used in biomedical applications.