Sensitivity Improvement of Multi-Slot Subwavelength Bragg Grating Refractive Index Sensors by Increasing the Waveguide Height or Suspending the Sensor.

We present two methods of improving wavelength sensitivity for multi-slot sub-wavelength Bragg grating (MS-SW BG) refractive index sensors. The sensor structure is designed to have high optical mode confinement in the gaps between the silicon pillars whereby the surrounding medium interaction is high, thus improving the sensitivity. Further sensitivity improvements are achieved by increasing the waveguide height or suspending the sensor.

Graphene-Enhanced Raman Scattering from the Adenine Molecules.

An enhanced Raman scattering from a thin layer of adenine molecules deposited on graphene substrate was detected. The value of enhancement depends on the photon energy of the exciting light. The benzene ring in the structure of adenine molecule suggests π-stacking of adenine molecule on top of graphene.

Gilded nanoparticles for plasmonically enhanced fluorescence in TiO2:Sm3+ sol-gel films.

Unlabelled: Silica-gold core-shell nanoparticles were used for plasmonic enhancement of rare earth fluorescence in sol-gel-derived TiO2:Sm3+ films. Local enhancement of Sm3+ fluorescence in the vicinity of separate gilded nanoparticles was revealed by a combination of dark field microscopy and fluorescence spectroscopy techniques. An intensity enhancement of Sm3+ fluorescence varies from 2.