We propose a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor based on photonic crystal fiber (PCF) with selectively filled analyte channels. Silver is used as the plasmonic material to accurately detect the analytes and is coated with a thin graphene layer to prevent oxidation. The liquid-filled cores are placed near to the metallic channel for easy excitation of free electrons to produce surface plasmon waves (SPWs). Surface plasmons along the metal surface are excited with a leaky Gaussian-like core guided mode. Numerical investigations of the fiber’s properties and sensing performance are performed using the finite element method (FEM). The proposed sensor shows maximum amplitude sensitivity of 418 Refractive Index Units (RIU⁻¹) with resolution as high as 2.4 × 10⁻⁵ RIU. Using the wavelength interrogation method, a maximum refractive index (RI) sensitivity of 3000 nm/RIU in the sensing range of 1.46–1.49 is achieved. The proposed sensor is suitable for detecting various high RI chemicals, biochemical and organic chemical analytes. Additionally, the effects of fiber structural parameters on the properties of plasmonic excitation are investigated and optimized for sensing performance as well as reducing the sensor’s footprint.

We numerically demonstrate a surface plasmon resonance biosensor-based on dual-polarized spiral photonic crystal fiber (PCF). Chemically stable gold material is used as the active plasmonic material, which is placed on the outer layer of the PCF to facilitate practical fabrication. Finite-element method-based numerical investigations show that the proposed biosensor shows maximum wavelength sensitivity of 4600 and 4300 nm/RIU in ${x}$ - and ${y}$ -polarized modes at an analyte refractive index of 1.37. Moreover, for analyte refractive index ranging from 1.33 to 1.38, maximum amplitude sensitivities of 371.5 RIU⁻¹ and 420.4 RIU⁻¹ are obtained in ${x}$ - and ${y}$ -polarized modes, respectively. In addition, the effects of changing pitch, different air hole diameter of the PCF and thickness of the gold layer on the sensing performance are also investigated. Owing to high sensitivity, improved sensing resolution and appropriate linearity characteristics, the proposed dual-polarized spiral PCF can be implemented for the detection of biological analytes, organic chemicals, biomolecules, and other unknown analytes.

A simple multi-core flat fiber (MCFF) based surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor operating in telecommunication wavelengths is proposed for refractive index sensing. Chemically stable gold (Au) and titanium dioxide (TiO₂) layers are used outside the fiber structure to realize a simple detection mechanism. The modeled sensor shows average wavelength interrogation sensitivity of 9,600 nm/RIU (Refractive Index Unit) and maximum sensitivity of 23,000 nm/RIU in the sensing range of 1.46-1.485 and 1.47-1.475, respectively. Moreover, the refractive index resolution of 4.35 × 10⁻⁶ is demonstrated. Additionally, proposed sensor had shown the maximum amplitude interrogation sensitivity of 820 RIU⁻¹, with the sensor resolution of 1.22 × 10⁻⁵ RIU. To the best of our knowledge, the proposed sensor achieved the highest wavelength interrogation sensitivity among the reported fiber based SPR sensors. Finally we anticipate that, this novel and highly sensitive MCFF SPR sensor will find the potential applications in real time remote sensing and monitoring, ultimately enabling inexpensive and accurate chemical and biochemical analytes detection.

A simple D-shaped photonic crystal fiber (PCF)based surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor is proposed for refractive index sensing in visible to near infrared (IR) region. A thin Titanium di-oxide (TiO ₂ ) layer is used as an adhesive layer to strongly attach the plasmonic gold (Au) layer with silica fiber surface. TiO ₂ also helps to tune the operating sensor wavelength from visible to near IR (550-1770-nm wavelength). Finite-element method has been used to investigate the guiding properties. The proposed sensor shows the maximum wavelength interrogation sensitivity of 46 000 nm/RIU and the average sensitivity of 9,800 nm/RIU in the sensing range of 1.33-1.43. It also shows the maximum amplitude sensitivity of 1,086 RIU ^-1 . Using the wavelength and amplitude interrogation methods, proposed sensor gives the theoretical maximum resolution of 2.2 × 10 ^-6 and 9.2 ×10 ^-6 RIU, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, it has the highest sensitivity and sensor resolution among the reported PCF SPR sensors. The proposed D-shaped PCF has been fabricated following the standard stack-and-draw method to show the feasibility of the proposed sensor. Due to the promising results over the broad range of analyte RI, it would be an excellent candidate for the detection of biomolecules, organic chemicals, chemical, and other analytes.

Highly sensitive and miniaturized sensors are highly desirable for real-time analyte/sample detection. In this Letter, we propose a highly sensitive plasmonic sensing scheme with the miniaturized photonic crystal fiber (PCF) attributes. A large cavity is introduced in the first ring of the PCFs for the efficient field excitation of the surface plasmon polariton mode and proficient infiltration of the sensing elements. Due to the irregular air-hole diameter in the first ring, the cavity exhibits the birefringence behavior which enhances the sensing performance. The novel plasmonic material gold has been used considering the chemical stability in an aqueous environment. The guiding properties and the effects of the sensing performance with different parameters have been investigated by the finite element method, and the proposed PCFs have been fabricated using the stack-and-draw fiber drawing method. The proposed sensor performance was investigated based on the wavelength and amplitude sensing techniques and shows the maximum sensitivities of 11,000 nm/RIU and $\mathrm{1,420}{\mathrm{RIU}}^{-1}$, respectively. It also shows the maximum sensor resolutions of $9.1\times {10}^{-6}$ and $7\times {10}^{-6}\mathrm{RIU}$ for the wavelength and amplitude sensing schemes, respectively, and the maximum figure of merits of 407. Furthermore, the proposed sensor is able to detect the analyte refractive indices in the range of 1.33–1.42; as a result, it will find the possible applications in the medical diagnostics, biomolecules, organic chemical, and chemical analyte detection.