Modeling chiral sculptured thin films as platforms for surface-plasmonic-polaritonic optical sensing

TL;DR

This paper develops an empirical model for chiral sculptured thin films (CSTFs) supporting multiple surface-plasmon-polariton waves, demonstrating their potential for highly sensitive optical sensing of infiltrated fluids.

Contribution

It introduces a novel empirical modeling approach for CSTFs supporting multiple SPP modes, enhancing understanding of their sensing capabilities.

Findings

Multiple SPP modes are supported at the CSTF-metal interface.

SPP sensitivities depend on the fluid's refractive index and CSTF rise angle.

Modeling indicates CSTFs are promising for advanced optical sensors.

Abstract

Biomimetic nanoengineered metamaterials called chiral sculptured thin films (CSTFs) are attractive platforms for optical sensing because their porosity, morphology and optical properties can be tailored to order. Furthermore, their ability to support more than one surface-plasmon-polariton (SPP) wave at a planar interface with a metal offers functionality beyond that associated with conventional SPP--based sensors. An empirical model was constructed to describe SPP-wave propagation guided by the planar interface of a CSTF--infiltrated with a fluid which supposedly contains analytes to be detected--and a metal. The inverse Bruggeman homogenization formalism was first used to determine the nanoscale model parameters of the CSTF. These parameters then served as inputs to the forward Bruggeman homogenization formalism to determine the reference relative permittivity dyadic of the infiltrated CSTF. By solving the coresponding boundary-value problem for a modified Kretschmann configuration, the characteristics of the multiple SPP modes at the planar interface were investigated as functions of the refractive index of the fluid infiltrating the CSTF and the rise angle of the CSTF. The SPP sensitivities thereby revealed bode well for the implementation of fluid-infiltrated CSTFs as SPP-based optical sensors.