Novel sensing concept based on optical Tamm plasmon

Abstract

This paper proposes a novel concept of refractive index sensing taking advantage of a high-refractive-index-contrast optical Tamm plasmon (OTP) structure, i.e., an air/dielectric alternate-layered distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) coated with metal. In the reflection spectrum of the structure, a dip related to the formation of OTP appears. The wavelength and reflectivity of this dip are sensitive to variation of ambient refractive index, which provides a potential way to realize refractive index sensing with a large measuring range and high sensitivity.