A highly efficient CMOS nanoplasmonic crystal enhanced slow-wave thermal emitter improves infrared gas-sensing devices

Abstract

The application of plasmonics to thermal emitters is generally assisted by absorptive losses in the metal because Kirchhoffa € s law prescribes that only good absorbers make good thermal emitters. Based on a designed plasmonic crystal and exploiting a slow-wave lattice resonance and spontaneous thermal plasmon emission, we engineer a tungsten-based thermal emitter, fabricated in an industrial CMOS process, and demonstrate its markedly improved practical use in a prototype non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) gas-sensing device. We show that the emission intensity of the thermal emitter at the CO 2 absorption wavelength is enhanced almost 4-fold compared to a standard non-plasmonic emitter, which enables a proportionate increase in the signal-to-noise ratio of the CO 2 gas sensor.