scholarly journals Kretschmann-Based Optical Sensor via Thermally Tunable Refractive Index

Crystals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 616
Author(s):  
Hassanein Shaban ◽  
Adel Shaaban ◽  
Marwa S. Salem ◽  
Lotfy Rabeh Gomaa ◽  
Mohamed Medhat ◽  
...  

This study discusses whether the prism used in a Kretschmann-based surface plasmon sensor can be fabricated from a thermotropic liquid crystal (TLC) material. The refractive index of the TLC prism can be thermally tuned to match the excitation requirements for the surface plasmon modes along the metal–TLC interface of the proposed sensing platform. The TLC material was chemically prepared in vitro and was thermally and optically characterized. The measurements reported a wide mesophase temperature range ΔT (~35 °C) and a relatively high clearing temperature TC (~84 °C) which constitutes a stable thermal control for the TLC optical parameters. The experimentally measured refractive indices of the TLC material reflect a linear change in line with the temperatures at several selected wavelengths in the visible region. A design of the surface plasmon sensor was proposed, which provided a linear response to the investigated analytes refractive index. This work highlights the importance of employing TLC material in designs compatible with detecting refractive index changes by thermal tuning and presents refractive index interrogation as an alternative method for exciting surface plasmon modes.

2013 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chitra Das ◽  
Jahanara Begum ◽  
Tahmina Begum ◽  
Shamima Choudhury

Effect of thickness on the optical and electrical properties of gallium arsenide (GaAs) thin films were studied. The films of different thicknesses were prepared by vacuum evaporation method (~10-4 Pa) on glass substrates at a substrate temperature of 323 K. The film thickness was measured in situ by a frequency shift of quartz crystal. The thicknesses were 250, 300 and 500 nm. Absorption spectrum of this thin film had been recorded using UV-VIS-NIR spectrophotometer in the photon wavelength range of 300 - 2500 nm. The values of some important optical parameters of the studied films (absorption coefficient, optical band gap energy and refractive index; extinction co-efficient and real and imaginary parts of dielectric constant) were determined using these spectra. Transmittance peak was observed in the visible region of the solar spectrum. Here transmittance showed better result when thicknesses were being increased. The optical band gap energy was decreased by the increase of thickness. The refractive index increased by increasing thickness while extinction co-efficient and real and imaginary part of dielectric constant decreased. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jbas.v37i1.15684 Journal of Bangladesh Academy of Sciences, Vol. 37, No. 1, 83-91, 2013


2013 ◽  
Vol 811 ◽  
pp. 186-191
Author(s):  
J.C. Juarez-Morales ◽  
Ma. Lourdes Granados-Marin

Associating a perturbation term for the effective refractive index which may depend ontime or position we describe the extremal features for the surface plasmon fields propagating on aroughness metal surface. This representation allows us to interpret the surface optical field as ageodesic flow which in principle enables us to associate coherence features to plasmon modes andto analyze the stability of the surface fields under small perturbations of the refractive index.


2019 ◽  
Vol 806 ◽  
pp. 24-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga V. Volovlikova ◽  
S.A. Gavrilov ◽  
P.I. Lazarenko ◽  
A.V. Kukin ◽  
A.A. Dudin ◽  
...  

This paper examines the influence of etching regimes on the reflectance of black silicon formed by Ni-assisted chemical etching. Black silicon exhibits properties of high light absorptance. The measured minimum values of the reflectance (R-min) of black silicon with thickness of 580 nm formed by metal-assisted chemical etching (MACE) for 60 minutes at 460 lx illumination were 2,3% in the UV region (200–400 nm), 0,5% in the visible region (400–750 nm) and 0,3% in the IR region (750–1300 nm). The findings showed that the reflectance of black silicon depends on its thickness, illumination and treatment duration. In addition, the porosity and refractive index were calculated.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 1570
Author(s):  
Shujahadeen B. Aziz ◽  
Elham M. A. Dannoun ◽  
Dana A. Tahir ◽  
Sarkawt A. Hussen ◽  
Rebar T. Abdulwahid ◽  
...  

In the current study, polymer nanocomposites (NCPs) based on poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) with altered refractive index and absorption edge were synthesized by means of a solution cast technique. The characterization techniques of UV–Vis spectroscopy and XRD were used to inspect the structural and optical properties of the prepared films. The XRD patterns of the doped samples have shown clear amendments in the structural properties of the PVA host polymer. Various optical parameters were studied to get more insights about the influence of CeO2 on optical properties of PVA. On the insertion of CeO2 nanoparticles (NPs) into the PVA matrix, the absorption edge was found to move to reduced photon energy sides. It was concluded that the CeO2 nanoparticles can be used to tune the refractive index (n) of the host polymer, and it reached up to 1.93 for 7 wt.% of CeO2 content. A detailed study of the bandgap (BG) was conducted using two approaches. The outcomes have confirmed the impact of the nanofiller on the BG reduction of the host polymer. The results of the optical BG study highlighted that it is crucial to address the ɛ” parameter during the BG analysis, and it is considered as a useful tool to specify the type of electronic transitions. Finally, the dispersion region of n is conferred in terms of the Wemple–DiDomenico single oscillator model.


Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 1648
Author(s):  
Muaffaq M. Nofal ◽  
Shujahadeen B. Aziz ◽  
Jihad M. Hadi ◽  
Wrya O. Karim ◽  
Elham M. A. Dannoun ◽  
...  

In this work, a green approach was implemented to prepare polymer composites using polyvinyl alcohol polymer and the extract of black tea leaves (polyphenols) in a complex form with Co2+ ions. A range of techniques was used to characterize the Co2+ complex and polymer composite, such as Ultraviolet–visible (UV-Visible) spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The optical parameters of absorption edge, refractive index (n), dielectric properties including real and imaginary parts (εr, and εi) were also investigated. The FRIR and XRD spectra were used to examine the compatibility between the PVA polymer and Co2+-polyphenol complex. The extent of interaction was evidenced from the shifts and change in the intensity of the peaks. The relatively wide amorphous phase in PVA polymer increased upon insertion of the Co2+-polyphenol complex. The amorphous character of the Co2+ complex was emphasized with the appearance of a hump in the XRD pattern. From UV-Visible spectroscopy, the optical properties, such as absorption edge, refractive index (n), (εr), (εi), and bandgap energy (Eg) of parent PVA and composite films were specified. The Eg of PVA was lowered from 5.8 to 1.82 eV upon addition of 45 mL of Co2+-polyphenol complex. The N/m* was calculated from the optical dielectric function. Ultimately, various types of electronic transitions within the polymer composites were specified using Tauc’s method. The direct bandgap (DBG) treatment of polymer composites with a developed amorphous phase is fundamental for commercialization in optoelectronic devices.


Photonics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 41
Author(s):  
Najat Andam ◽  
Siham Refki ◽  
Hidekazu Ishitobi ◽  
Yasushi Inouye ◽  
Zouheir Sekkat

The determination of optical constants (i.e., real and imaginary parts of the complex refractive index (nc) and thickness (d)) of ultrathin films is often required in photonics. It may be done by using, for example, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy combined with either profilometry or atomic force microscopy (AFM). SPR yields the optical thickness (i.e., the product of nc and d) of the film, while profilometry and AFM yield its thickness, thereby allowing for the separate determination of nc and d. In this paper, we use SPR and profilometry to determine the complex refractive index of very thin (i.e., 58 nm) films of dye-doped polymers at different dye/polymer concentrations (a feature which constitutes the originality of this work), and we compare the SPR results with those obtained by using spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements performed on the same samples. To determine the optical properties of our film samples by ellipsometry, we used, for the theoretical fits to experimental data, Bruggeman’s effective medium model for the dye/polymer, assumed as a composite material, and the Lorentz model for dye absorption. We found an excellent agreement between the results obtained by SPR and ellipsometry, confirming that SPR is appropriate for measuring the optical properties of very thin coatings at a single light frequency, given that it is simpler in operation and data analysis than spectroscopic ellipsometry.


Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 1728
Author(s):  
Joshua Fernandes ◽  
Sangmo Kang

The near-field enhancement and localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) on the core-shell noble metal nanostructure surfaces are widely studied for various biomedical applications. However, the study of the optical properties of new plasmonic non-spherical nanostructures is less explored. This numerical study quantifies the optical properties of spherical and non-spherical (prolate and oblate) dimer nanostructures by introducing finite element modelling in COMSOL Multiphysics. The surface plasmon resonance peaks of gold nanostructures should be understood and controlled for use in biological applications such as photothermal therapy and drug delivery. In this study, we find that non-spherical prolate and oblate gold dimers give excellent tunability in a wide range of biological windows. The electromagnetic field enhancement and surface plasmon resonance peak can be tuned by varying the aspect ratio of non-spherical nanostructures, the refractive index of the surrounding medium, shell thickness, and the distance of separation between nanostructures. The absorption spectra exhibit considerably greater dependency on the aspect ratio and refractive index than the shell thickness and separation distance. These results may be essential for applying the spherical and non-spherical nanostructures to various absorption-based applications.


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