Optical f iber sensor based on the short-range surface plasmon polariton mode

Abstract

An optical fiber sensor for ultrathin layer sensing based on short-range surface plasmon polariton (SRSPP) is proposed, and the sensing characteristics are theoretically analyzed. Simulation results indicate that even for a detecting layer much thinner than the vacuum wavelength, a resolution as high as 3.7 × 10 -6 RIU can be obtained. Moreover, an average thickness-detection sensitivity of 6.2 dB/nm is obtained, which enables the sensor to detect the thickness variation of the ultrathin layer up to tens of nanometers. The sensitive region of thickness could be adjusted by tuning the structure parameters. © 2014 Chinese Optics Letters.