Leaky Bloch-like surface waves in the radiation-continuum for sensitivity enhanced biosensors via azimuthal interrogation

Dielectric multilayer structures with a grating profile on the top-most layer adds an additional degree of freedom to the phase matching conditions for Bloch surface wave excitation. The conditions for Bloch surface wave coupling can be achieved by rotating both polar and azimuthal angles. The generation of Bloch surface waves as a function of azimuthal angle has similar characteristics to conventional grating coupled Bloch surface waves. However, azimuthally generated Bloch surface waves have enhanced angular sensitivity compared to conventional polar angle coupled modes, which makes them appropriate for detecting tiny variations in surface refractive index due to the addition of nano-particles such as protein molecules.