Tunable and anisotropic perfect absorber using graphene-black phosphorus nanoblock.

Two-dimensional (2D) materials, which have attracted attention due to intriguing optical properties, form a promising building block in optical and photonic devices. This paper numerically investigates a tunable and anisotropic perfect absorber in a graphene-black phosphorus (BP) nanoblock array structure. The suggested structure exhibits polarization-dependent anisotropic absorption in the mid-infrared, with maximum absorption of 99.73% for x-polarization and 53.47% for y-polarization, as determined by finite-difference time-domain FDTD analysis. Moreover, geometrical parameters and graphene and BP doping amounts are possibly employed to tailor the absorption spectra of the structures. Hence, our results have the potential in the design of polarization-selective and tunable high-performance devices in the mid-infrared, such as polarizers, modulators, and photodetectors.

Individually tunable array reflector for amplitude and phase modulation.

Based on graphene's phase modulation property and vanadium dioxide's amplitude modulation property, we developed an array reflector for terahertz frequencies that is individually adjustable. Starting with a theoretical analysis, we look into the effects of voltage on the Fermi level of graphene and temperature on the conductivity of vanadium dioxide, analyze the beam focusing characteristics, and finally link the controllable quantities with the reflected beam characteristics to independently regulate each cell in the array. The simulation findings demonstrate that the suggested array structure can precisely manage the focus point's position, intensity, and scattering degree and that, with phase compensation, it can control the wide-angle incident light. The array structure offers a novel concept for adjustable devices and focusing lenses, which has excellent potential for study and application.

Highly Sensitive Graphene-Au Coated Plasmon Resonance PCF Sensor.

This paper presents a graphene-Au coated photonic crystal fiber (PCF) sensor in the visible regime. Designing a side-polish D-shaped plane over the PCF's defect of the periodic air holes can effectively enhance the evanescent field. Graphene on gold can enhance the sensor's sensitivity because it can stably adsorb biomolecules and increase the propagation constant of the surface plasmon polariton (SPP). Using the finite element method (FEM), we demonstrated that the sensing performance is greatly improved by optimizing the PCF's geometric structural parameter. The proposed PCF sensor exhibited high performance with a maximum wavelength sensitivity of 4200 nm/RIU, maximum amplitude sensitivity of 450 RIU-1, and refractive index resolution of 2.3 × 10-5 RIU in the sensing range 1.32-1.41. This research provides a potential application for the design a new generation of highly sensitive biosensors.

An Integrated Detection Based on a Multi-Parameter Plasmonic Optical Fiber Sensor.

In this paper, a multi-parameter integrated detection photonic crystal fiber (PCF) sensor based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR) is proposed for its application in detecting temperature, magnetic field, and refractive index. The air holes on both sides of the fiber core were coated with gold film and introduced to the temperature-sensitive medium (PDMS) and magnetic fluid (MF), detecting temperature and magnetic field, respectively. The graphene layer is also presented on the gold film of the D-type side polished surface to improve the sensor sensitivity. The sensor's critical parameters' influence on its performance is investigated using a mode solver based on the finite element method (FEM). Simulation results show when the samples refractive index (RI) detection is a range of 1.36~1.43, magnetic field detection is a range of 20~550 Oe, and the temperature detection is a range of 5~55 °C; the maximum sensor's sensitivity obtains 76,000 nm/RIU, magnetic field intensity sensitivity produces 164.06 pm/Oe, and temperature sensitivity obtains -5001.31 pm/°C.

High Sensitivity Plasmonic Sensor Based on Fano Resonance with Inverted U-Shaped Resonator.

Herein, we propose a tunable plasmonic sensor with Fano resonators in an inverted U-shaped resonator. By manipulating the sharp asymmetric Fano resonance peaks, a high-sensitivity refractive index sensor can be realized. Using the multimode interference coupled-mode theory and the finite element method, we numerically simulate the influences of geometrical parameters on the plasmonic sensor. Optimizing the structure parameters, we can achieve a high plasmonic sensor with the maximum sensitivity for 840 nm/RIUand figure of merit for 3.9 × 105. The research results provide a reliable theoretical basis for designing high sensitivity to the next generation plasmonic nanosensor.

Deep-subwavelength spoof magnetic localized surface plasmon waveguiding over arbitrary bending angles.

A deep-subwavelength metal spiral structure (MSS) waveguide with arbitrary bending angles was proposed and demonstrated to propagate magnetic localized surface plasmons (MLSPs) in theoretical, simulated and experimental ways. The uniform coupling strengths and frequencies for adjacent MSSs with different azimuthal angles represent a significant advancement in the development of structures supporting MLSPs over arbitrary bending angles. The consistency among spectra, dispersion, and field distributions for five MSSs indicates that backward propagation of MLSPs over arbitrary bending angles is possible. In addition, a long S-chain consisting of adjacent MSSs at various angles holds promise for applications involving long-distance MLSPs waveguides.

Narrow-band asymmetric transmission based on the dark mode of Fano resonance on symmetric trimeric metasurfaces.

Asymmetric transmission (AT) is useful for polarization manipulation. We report narrowband AT that utilizes a triple-layered symmetric trimeric metasurface with near-field coupling of the dark mode of the Fano resonance. The coupling strength of the dark mode was tuned by using a mid-layer to break the dim AT between two slit layers. The peak transmission of linearly polarized waves and percentage bandwidth reached 0.7719 and 1.26% (numerical simulations) and 0.49 and 1.9% (experiments), respectively. Coupled-mode theory and field patterns are utilized to explain the underlying physical mechanisms of the mid-layer assisted field coupling. These results are useful for Fano-resonance-based devices.

Narrow plasmonic surface lattice resonances with preference to asymmetric dielectric environment.

Plasmonic surface lattice resonances (SLRs) supported by metal nanoparticle arrays exhibit narrow linewidths and enhanced localized fields and thus are attractive in diverse applications including nanolasers, biochemical sensors and nonlinear optics. However, it has been shown that these SLRs have much worse performance in a less symmetric environment, hindering their practical applications. Here, we propose a novel type of narrow SLRs that is supported by metal-insulator-metal nanopillar arrays and that has better performance in a less symmetric dielectric environment. When the dielectric environment is as asymmetric as the air/polymer environment with a refractive index contrast of 1.0/1.52, the proposed SLRs have high quality factors of 62 under normalincidence and of 147 under oblique incidence in the visible regime. We attribute these new SLRs to Fano resonance between an in-plane dipole and an out-of-plane quadrupole (or dipole) that are respectively supported by the two metal ridges under normal (or oblique) incidence. We also show that the resonance wavelength can be tuned by varying the geometric sizes or by changing the angle of incidence. By doing this, we clarify the conditions for the formation of the proposed SLRs and illustrate their attractive merits in sensing applications. We expect that this new SLR can open up applications in asymmetric dielectric environments.

Tunable band-stop plasmonic waveguide filter with symmetrical multiple-teeth-shaped structure.

A nanometeric plasmonic filter with a symmetrical multiple-teeth-shaped structure is investigated theoretically and numerically. A tunable wide bandgap is achievable by adjusting the depth and number of teeth. This phenomenon can be attributed to the interference superposition of the reflected and transmitted waves from each tooth. Moreover, the effects of varying the number of identical teeth are also discussed. It is found that the bandgap width increases continuously with the increasing number of teeth. The finite difference time domain method is used to simulate and compute the coupling of surface plasmon polariton waves with different structures in this Letter. The plasmonic waveguide filter that we propose here may have meaningful applications in ultra-fine spectrum analysis and high-density nanoplasmonic integration circuits.

Significantly increased surface plasmon polariton mode excitation using a multilayer insulation structure in a metal-insulator-metal plasmonic waveguide.

In this paper, we propose a novel multilayer insulation structure in a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) plasmonic waveguide to explore the possibility of increasing surface plasmon polariton (SPP) mode excitation. Numerical investigations show that the effective refractive index of the multilayer insulation structure affects symmetric SPP mode excitation. The significant enhancement of electric field intensity in horizontal and vertical profiles with a dipole in SiO2 compared with in Al2O3 is observed in the proposed MIM plasmonic waveguides due to a combination of the improved optical density and dipole radiation intensities under a low refractive index. The Au/SiO2/Al2O3/SiO2/Au geometry shows the best enhancement performances, which can serve as an excellent guideline for designing and optimizing a high-performance SPP source using a multilayer insulation structure.

Highly Sensitive Multi-Channel Biosensor for Low-Interference Simultaneous Detection.

In this paper, we propose a multi-channel photonic crystal fiber sensor, which adopts dual-polarization and multiple materials to effectively reduce the mutual interference between channels and enhance the surface plasmon resonance, thus achieving simultaneous detection of a multi-channel with low interference. Four channels are polished around the cylindrical fiber, and then different metal films (gold or silver) and plasmonic materials (titanium dioxide, thallium pentoxide, or graphene) are added to the sensing area of each channel. All channels detect refractive indices in the range of 1.34 to 1.42. The sensing performance of the fiber optic sensor was numerically investigated using the full vector finite element method. After the optimization of structural parameters, the maximum wavelength sensitivity of channel-1, channel-2, channel-3, and channel-4 are 49,800 nm/RIU, 49,000 nm/RIU, 35,900 nm/RIU, and 36,800 nm/RIU, respectively. We have theoretically analyzed the sensor's capabilities for partial bio-detection and simulated its detection capability with a wavelength sensitivity of 11,500 nm/RIU for normal red blood cells and 12,200 nm/RIU for MCF-7 cancerous cells. Our proposed sensor has a novel design, can detect multiple channels simultaneously, has strong anti-interference capability and high sensitivity, and has good sensing characteristics.

Integrated Multifunctional Graphene Discs 2D Plasmonic Optical Tweezers for Manipulating Nanoparticles.

Optical tweezers are key tools to trap and manipulate nanoparticles in a non-invasive way, and have been widely used in the biological and medical fields. We present an integrated multifunctional 2D plasmonic optical tweezer consisting of an array of graphene discs and the substrate circuit. The substrate circuit allows us to apply a bias voltage to configure the Fermi energy of graphene discs independently. Our work is based on numerical simulation of the finite element method. Numerical results show that the optical force is generated due to the localized surface plasmonic resonance (LSPR) mode of the graphene discs with Fermi Energy Ef = 0.6 eV under incident intensity I = 1 mW/µm2, which has a very low incident intensity compared to other plasmonic tweezers systems. The optical forces on the nanoparticles can be controlled by modulating the position of LSPR excitation. Controlling the position of LSPR excitation by bias voltage gates to configure the Fermi energy of graphene disks, the nanoparticles can be dynamically transported to arbitrary positions in the 2D plane. Our work is integrated and has multiple functions, which can be applied to trap, transport, sort, and fuse nanoparticles independently. It has potential applications in many fields, such as lab-on-a-chip, nano assembly, enhanced Raman sensing, etc.

Dynamically Tunable and Multifunctional Polarization Beam Splitters Based on Graphene Metasurfaces.

Based on coupled-mode theory (CMT) and the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) approach, we propose a graphene metasurface-based and multifunctional polarization beam splitter that is dynamically tunable. The structure, comprising two graphene strips at the top and bottom and four triangular graphene blocks in the center layer, can achieve triple plasma-induced transparency (PIT). In a single polarization state, the computational results reveal that synchronous or asynchronous six-mode electro-optical switching modulation may be performed by modifying the Fermi levels of graphene, with a maximum modulation degree of amplitude (MDA) of 97.6% at 5.148 THz. In addition, by varying the polarization angle, a polarization-sensitive, tunable polarization beam splitter (PBS) with an extinction ratio and insertion loss of 19.6 dB and 0.35 dB at 6.143 THz, respectively, and a frequency modulation degree of 25.2% was realized. Combining PIT with polarization sensitivity provides a viable platform and concept for developing graphene metasurface-based multifunctional and tunable polarization devices.

Enhanced middle-infrared light transmission through Au/SiO(x)N(y)/Au aperture arrays.

The enhanced middle-infrared light transmission through Au/SiO(x)N(y)/Au aperture arrays by changing the refractive index and the thickness of a dielectric layer was studied experimentally. The results indicated that the transmission spectra was highly dependent on the refractive index and the thickness of SiO(x)N(y). We found that the transmission peaks redshifted regularly along with the refractive index from 1.6 to 1.8, owing to the role of surface plasmon polaritons (SPP) coupling in the Au/SiO(x)N(y)/Au cascaded metallic structure. Simultaneously, a higher transmission efficiency and narrower transmission peak was obtained in Au/SiO2.1N0.3/Au cascaded metallic structure with small refractive index (1.6) than in Au/SiO0.6N1/Au cascaded metallic structure with large refractive index (1.8). When the thickness of SiO(x)N(y) changes from 0.2 to 0.4 microm, the shape of transmission spectra exhibits a large change. It was found that a higher transmission efficiency and narrower transmission peak was obtained in Au/SiO(x)N(y)/Au cascaded metallic structure with a thin dielectric film (0.2 microm), with the increase of SiO(x)N(y) film's thickness, the transmission peak gradually widened and disappeared finally. This effect is useful in applications of biochemical sensing and tunable integrated plasmonic devices in the middle-infrared region.

High Q-Factor Hybrid Metamaterial Waveguide Multi-Fano Resonance Sensor in the Visible Wavelength Range.

We propose a high quality-factor (Q-factor) multi-Fano resonance hybrid metamaterial waveguide (HMW) sensor. By ingeniously designing a metal/dielectric hybrid waveguide structure, we can effectively tailor multi-Fano resonance peaks' reflectance spectrum appearing in the visible wavelength range. In order to balance the high Q-factor and the best Fano resonance modulation depth, numerical calculation results demonstrated that the ultra-narrow linewidth resolution, the single-side quality factor, and Figure of Merit (FOM) can reach 1.7 nm, 690, and 236, respectively. Compared with the reported high Q-value (483) in the near-infrared band, an increase of 30% is achieved. Our proposed design may extend the application of Fano resonance in HMW from mid-infrared, terahertz band to visible band and have important research value in the fields of multi-wavelength non-labeled biosensing and slow light devices.