C-band operating plasmonic sensor with a high Q-factor/figure of merit based on a silicon nano-ring.

In this paper, we take advantage of the high refractive index property of silicon to design a practical and sensitive plasmonic sensor on a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) platform. It has been demonstrated that a label-free refractive index sensor with sensitivity up to 1124 nm/RIU can be obtained using a simple design of a silicon nano-ring with a concentric hexagonal plasmonic cavity. It has also been shown that, with optimum structural parameters, a quality factor (Q-factor) of 307 and a figure of merit (FOM) of 234 can be achieved, which are approximately 8 times and 5 times higher than the proposed sensors counterparts, respectively. In addition, the resonance mode of the hexagonal cavity with Si nano-ring (HCS) sensor can be adjusted to operate in the C-band, which is a highly desirable wavelength range in terms of compatibility with devices in PIC technology.