Plasmonic Biosensor for Low-Index Liquid Analyte Detection Using Graphene-Assisted Photonic Crystal Fiber

We report a sensitive D-shaped photonic crystal fiber-based surface plasmon resonance (PCF-SPR) sensor with linear sensing performance and a broad detection range for low refractive index (RI) liquid analytes ranging from 1.27 to 1.37 with possible extension beyond this range. We examine three combinations of materials (silver only, graphite on silver, and graphene on silver) as plasmonic nanofilm for the PCF-SPR and demonstrate that graphene-assisted PCF has the best overall performance. We show that graphene coating of silver nanofilm improves the sensitivity and the overall figure of merit of the sensor, besides the practical benefit of protecting the silver nanofilm from surface oxidation. Furthermore, we propose two distinct ways of analyte sensing based on filling patterns where the liquid analyte can be filled internally into the top two air holes of the PCF, or externally into a rectangle channel at the top of the fiber. In the internal filling detection scheme, the graphene-assisted PCF-SPR sensor demonstrates ultra-linearity, a detection range of 0.1 refractive index unit (RIU) between 1.27 and 1.37, an average linear spectral sensitivity of 2320 nm/RIU, and a maximum amplitude sensitivity of 192 RIU−1 for 1150 nm excitation. In the external filling detection scheme, the PCF-SPR exhibits extremely large sensitivities with a maximum spectral sensitivity of 22,400 nm/RIU close to analyte RI of 1.33, and a maximum figure of merit (FOM) of 127 which is approximately five times larger than that of the similar reported PCF-SPR sensors in the literature. The combination of a broad detection range for low-index analytes, large sensitivities, design flexibility, and stability against surface oxidation renders our proposed sensor as an interesting candidate for biosensing applications in chemistry, biology, and medicine.