Open AccessA full ellipsometric approach to optical sensing with Bloch surface waves on photonic crystals
Author(s) -
Alberto Sinibaldi,
Riccardo Rizzo,
Giovanni Figliozzi,
Emiliano Descrovi,
Norbert Danz,
Peter Munzert,
Aleksei Anopchenko,
Francesco Michelotti
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.21.023331
Subject(s) - figure of merit , optics , photonic crystal , photonics , materials science , refractive index , surface wave , phase (matter) , resolution (logic) , optoelectronics , physics , quantum mechanics , artificial intelligence , computer science
We report on the investigation on the resolution of optical sensors exploiting Bloch surface waves sustained by one dimensional photonic crystals. A figure of merit is introduced to quantitatively assess the performance of such sensors and its dependency on the geometry and materials of the photonic crystal. We show that the figure of merit and the resolution can be improved by adopting a full ellipsometric phase-sensitive approach. The theoretical predictions are confirmed by experiments in which, for the first time, such type of sensors are operated in the full ellipsometric scheme.