Enhancement of refractive index sensing for an infrared plasmonic metamaterial absorber with a nanogap.

An infrared plasmonic metamaterial absorber with a nanogap was numerically and experimentally investigated as a refractive index sensor. We experimentally demonstrated large enhancements of both sensitivity (approximately 1091 nm/refractive index unit) and figure of merit (FOM*; approximately 273) owing to the nanogap formation in the metamaterial absorber to achieve perfect absorption (99%). The refractive index sensing platform was fabricated by producible nanoimprint lithography and isotropic dry etching processes to have a large area and low cost while providing a practical solution for high-performance plasmonic biosensors.