All optic-fiber coupled plasmon waveguide resonance sensor using ZrS₂ based dielectric layer

Abstract

We developed an all optic-fiber coupled plasmon waveguide resonance (CPWR) sensor using a zirconium disulfide (ZrS₂) based dielectric layer. The dielectric constants of ZrS₂ were obtained using first-principles calculations. The theoretical model of the proposed sensor was established based on the transfer matrix method, leading to the optimization of the parameters in the sensor. The sensor was fabricated by depositing a gold layer of 35 nm on the fiber core and immobilizing the ZrS₂ layer on the gold layer via physical adsorption method. An experimental setup was implemented for measuring the refractive index. The sensor with two cycles showed the best performance, with a sensitivity of higher than 8000 nm/RIU.