Improved performance of SPR optical fiber sensors with InN as dielectric cover

Abstract

In this work, the performance of uniform-waist tapered optical fiber sensors based on SPR with Indium Nitride (InN) as dielectric layer has been experimentally studied. The obtained results show that the overall performance in terms of reliability, long term stability and sensitivity is improved. Furthermore, the dependence of the sensitivity with the thickness of the dielectric layer is also studied, showing that increases as the thickness decreases while the well known trend to excite the surface plasmons at longer wavelengths or higher refractive index of the outer medium is kept. Thus, a novel application of the InN to optical fiber sensors is demonstrated. The use of this material would be of great interest to produce new, improved, SPR-based devices for chemical and biological sensing.