• Photonics Research
  • Vol. 7, Issue 7, 815 (2019)
Huan Jiang1、2, Sajid Choudhury2, Zhaxylyk A. Kudyshev2, Di Wang2, Ludmila J. Prokopeva2, Peng Xiao3, Yongyuan Jiang1、4、5、6、7, and Alexander V. Kildishev2、*
Author Affiliations
  • 1Institute of Modern Optics, Department of Physics, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
  • 2School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Birck Nanotechnology Center, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, USA
  • 3School of Electrical Engineering and Automation, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
  • 4Collaborative Innovation Center of Extreme Optics, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, China
  • 5Key Laboratory of Micro-Optics and Photonic Technology of Heilongjiang Province, Harbin 150001, China
  • 6Key Laboratory of Micro-Nano Optoelectronic Information System of Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Harbin 150001, China
  • 7e-mail: jiangyy@hit.edu.cn
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    DOI: 10.1364/PRJ.7.000815 Cite this Article Set citation alerts
    Huan Jiang, Sajid Choudhury, Zhaxylyk A. Kudyshev, Di Wang, Ludmila J. Prokopeva, Peng Xiao, Yongyuan Jiang, Alexander V. Kildishev. Enhancing sensitivity to ambient refractive index with tunable few-layer graphene/hBN nanoribbons[J]. Photonics Research, 2019, 7(7): 815 Copy Citation Text show less

    Abstract

    Refractive index (RI) sensing helps to identify biomolecules and chemicals in the mid-infrared range for drug discovery, bioengineering, and environmental monitoring. In this paper, we numerically demonstrate an electrically tunable RI sensor with ultrahigh sensitivity using a three-layer graphene nanoribbon array separated by hexagonal boron nitride (hBN). Unlike the weak resonance in single-layer graphene nanoribbons, a much stronger plasmon resonance featuring a higher-quality factor can be excited in the graphene/hBN few-layer ribbon array. Simultaneously, the high purity of graphene on hBN results in an outstanding charge mobility above 4×104 cm2·V 1·s 1 at 300 K, which allows a larger modulation depth. The interaction between the locally enhanced field around graphene ribbons and its surrounding analyte leads to ultrahigh sensitivity (4.207 μm/RIU), with the figure of merit reaching approximately 58. Moreover, this ultrasensitive detector could selectively work in different wavebands by controlling gate voltages applied to graphene. These merits of ultrahigh sensitivity and electrical tunability are major advances compared to previous RI sensors, paving a way toward ultrasensitive detection using graphene/hBN few-layer devices.
    σ(ω)=σ0{i8πln(2coshEF2ωT)ωTω+iτ1+1+iπ[ψ(12iω2ωF4πωT)ψ(12iω+2ωF4πωT)]}.(1)

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    τ=μDCEF/evF2,(2)

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    Huan Jiang, Sajid Choudhury, Zhaxylyk A. Kudyshev, Di Wang, Ludmila J. Prokopeva, Peng Xiao, Yongyuan Jiang, Alexander V. Kildishev. Enhancing sensitivity to ambient refractive index with tunable few-layer graphene/hBN nanoribbons[J]. Photonics Research, 2019, 7(7): 815
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