Sensitivity improvement of a surface plasmon resonance sensor based on two-dimensional materials hybrid structure in visible region: A theoretical study

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor based on two-dimensional (2D) materials (graphene, MoS2, WS2 and WSe2) hybrid structure, and theoretically investigate its sensitivity improvement in the visible region. The thickness of metal (Au, Ag or Cu) and the layer number of each 2D material are optimized using genetic algorithms to obtain the highest sensitivity for a specific wavelength of incident light. Then, the sensitivities of proposed SPR sensors with different metal films at various wavelengths are compared. An Ag-based SPR sensor exhibits a higher sensitivity than an Au- or Cu-based one at most wavelengths in the visible region. In addition, the sensitivity of the proposed SPR sensor varies obviously with the wavelength of incident light, and shows a maximum value of 159, 194 or 155 °/RIU for Au, Ag or Cu, respectively. It is demonstrated that the sensitivity of the SPR sensor based on 2D materials' hybrid structure can be further improved by optimizing the wavelength of incident light.