Mid-infrared surface plasmon resonance sensor based on photonic crystal fibers.

A surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor with two open-ring channels based on a photonic crystal fiber (PCF) is described. The sensor is designed to detect low refractive indexes between 1.23 and 1.29 with the operation wavelength in mid-infrared region between 2550 nm and 2900 nm. The coupling characteristics and sensing properties are numerically analyzed by the finite element method. The average spectral sensitivity is 5500 nm/RIU and a maximum resolution of 7.69 × 10-6 RIU can be obtained. Our analysis shows that the PCF-SPR sensor is suitable for mid-infrared detection.