Comparison of the sensitivity of air and dielectric modes in photonic crystal slab sensors

Optical cavities provide a route to sensing through the shift of the optical resonant peak. However, effective sensing with optical cavities requires the optimization of the modal quality factor, Q, and the field overlap with the sample, f. For a photonic crystal slab (PCS) this figure of merit, M =...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Optics express 2009-08, Vol.17 (17), p.14552-14557
Main Authors: Tomljenovic-Hanic, Snjezana, Rahmani, Adel, Steel, M J, de Sterke, C Martijn
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air
Algorithms
Biosensing Techniques
Crystallization
Electronics
Microscopy, Electron, Scanning
Nanoparticles
Nanotechnology - methods
Optics and Photonics
Photons
Silicon - chemistry
Spectrophotometry, Infrared - methods
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Optical cavities provide a route to sensing through the shift of the optical resonant peak. However, effective sensing with optical cavities requires the optimization of the modal quality factor, Q, and the field overlap with the sample, f. For a photonic crystal slab (PCS) this figure of merit, M = fQ, involves two competing effects. The air modes usually have large f but small Q, whereas the dielectric modes have high-Q and small f. We compare the sensitivity of air and dielectric modes for different PCS cavity designs and account for loss associated with absorption by the sensed sample or its host liquid. We find that optimizing Q at the expense of f is the most beneficial strategy, and modes deriving from the dielectric bands are thus preferred.
ISSN:1094-4087
1094-4087
DOI:10.1364/oe.17.014552