Optimization and Sensitivity Analysis of a Single Core Low Loss PCF Sensor

This study focuses on designing a D-shaped SPR-based PCF sensor and performing its numerical investigation. The analysis was done using the finite element method (FEM). We’ve used gold-TiO
2
as the plasmonic material to help incur the SPR. A virtual perfectly matched layer(PML) was added to absorb the outgoing waves in the simulation. This sensor shows a high sensitivity and accuracy to detect components inserted as analytes. The performance of the sensor is analyzed based on the sensor’s wavelength and amplitude sensitivity. To optimize the structure for better performance, we altered the structural parameters, i.e., the gold layer thickness, titanium dioxide layer thickness, pitch size, and airhole diameters. The maximum achieved wavelength sensitivity (S
W
) and amplitude sensitivity (S
A
) is 19,000 nm/RIU and 2561 $RIU^{-1}$ respectively. The resolution for the maximum S
w
is $5.26\times 10^{-6}$ and the Figure of merit(FOM) is 118.75 $RIU^{-1}$.