Design of a compact photonic crystal sensor

• Published in: Optical and quantum electronics 2011-07, Vol.42 (8), p.463-472
• Main Authors: Derbali, J., AbdelMalek, F., Obayya, S. S. A., Bouchriha, H., Letizia, R.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Characterization and Evaluation of Materials; Computer Communication Networks; Crystals; Cylinders; Detection; Electrical Engineering; Exact sciences and technology; Fundamental areas of phenomenology (including applications); High frequencies; Lasers; Optical Devices; Optical elements, devices, and systems; Optical materials; Optical waveguides and coupleurs; Optics; Photonic bandgap materials; Photonic crystals; Photonics; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Polycarbonates; Sensors; Wavelengths
• ISSN: 0306-8919; 1572-817X
• DOI: 10.1007/s11082-010-9429-4

The development of technology in photonic crystal (PC) structures has seen rapid progress. Using PCs in biosensing area may open new venues to achieve single molecule detection, and high resolution scanning. A novel PC sensor with improved performances, in terms of size, compactness and sensitivity is presented in this paper. The sensing element consists of dielectric cylinders with varying radius introduced along and directions of the crystal. The results show that the peak wavelength shifts to the high frequency region when only six cylinders are filled with analytes. Also, the peaks show a larger shift compared to the structure obtained using the entire PC waveguide as sensing region. The proposed sensor shows a better sensitivity to water than other analytes, where the peak wavelength tends to shift towards the low frequency region.