A comparative analysis of surface plasmon resonance fiber sensor withsymmetric and asymmetric metal coating by three-dimensional ray-tracing

摘要

A numerical analysis of the fiber-optic surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor with crescent shape of metal coating is presented. The crescent shape of metal coating usually occurs during one side metal deposition on the cylindrical fiber. Here, for analysis of the performance of fiber-optic SPR sensors with such asymmetric metal coating, the method of three-dimensional (3D) ray-tracing and theoretical calculation of electromagnetic reflection and transmission at the metal film are applied simultaneously, which result in 3D analysis with reduced time consumption and data loads. We investigate the characteristic of fiber-optic SPR sensor with asymmetric metal layer, comparing with those of the symmetric metal coated fiber, and discuss the asymmetry effect of the sensors for practical sensing and provide the information for improving sensing capability.