Design of Highly Sensitive Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensors Using Planar Metallic Films Closely Coupled to Nanogratings

We investigate the sensitivity enhancement of surface plasmon resonance(SPR) sensors using planar metallic films closely coupled to nanogratings. The strong coupling between localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPRs) presenting in metallic nanostructures and surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) propagating at the metallic film surface leads to changes of resonance reflection properties, resulting in enhanced sensitivity of SPR sensors. The effects of thickness of the metallic films, grating period and metal materials on the refractive index sensitivity of the device are investigated. The refractive index sensitivity of nanograting-based SPR sensors is predicted to be about543nm/RIU (refractive index unit) using optimized structure parameters. Our study on SPR sensors using planar metallic films closely coupled to nanogratings demonstrates the potential for significant improvement in refractive index sensitivity.