A high-resolution refractive index sensor of partially cleaved PCF based on surface plasmon resonance

The aim of this work is to design partially cleaved microstructured fiber refractive index sensor for detection of tiny refractive index change in water. The detection is based on surface plasmon resonance. Transfer matrix method, full-vector finite element method and analytical method are used to optimize the design of the proposed sensor for a better performance related to the materials, metal film and metal thickness. A maximum sensitivity of 4100 nm/RIU and a resolution of 2.44× 10^-5 refractive index unit (RIU) are obtained in the case of the wavelength interrogation technique and a maximum sensitivity of 634 nm/RIU with a corresponding resolution of 1.58× 10^-5 RIU is obtained in the case of the intensity interrogation technique.