Refractive Index Sensor Based on Leaky Resonant Scattering of Single Semiconductor Nanowire

Yilun Wang, Baowei Gao, Kun Zhang, Kai Yuan, Yi Wan, Ziang Xie, Xiaolong Xu, Hui Zhang, Qingjun Song, Li Yao, Xin Fang, Yanping Li, Wanjing Xu, Jiasen Zhang, Lun Dai*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

26 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Optical refractive index (RI) sensors, with the advantages of fast response, resistance to electromagnetic interference, and more options for signal collection, are widely used in biological fields. Compared with the metallic nanoparticle RI sensors based on localized surface plasmon resonance (SPR), nonmetallic nanomaterial RI sensors based on leaky resonant scattering have the advantages of high sensitivity, large sensing volume, good reliability, and more suitability for biosensing. However, so far studies on nonmetallic nanomaterial RI sensors are less reported. In this work, we study semiconductor nanowire (NW) RI sensors using a CdSe nanowire as an example. The NW diameter and substrate effects on the sensitivity of the RI sensors are investigated experimentally and theoretically. The bulk wavelength sensitivity of a suspended NW can be as high as 235 nm/RIU (per refractive index unit), and the highest figure of merit is 4.6. The larger decay length (∼100 nm) of the NW sensor enables greater sensing volume compared with a localized SPR sensor. Besides, we demonstrate that, by choosing proper diameter, we can tune the scattering efficiency peak into the optimum spectral region (600-900 nm) for biosensing. We also demonstrate that the semiconductor NW RI sensors have good reproducibility and reliability. Our work predicts that the semiconductor NW RI sensors have promising applications in diverse sensing devices, especially in biosensing.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)688-694
Number of pages7
JournalACS Photonics
Volume4
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Mar 2017
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • leaky resonant scattering
  • refractive index sensor
  • reliability
  • semiconductor nanowire
  • sensitivity

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Wang, Y., Gao, B., Zhang, K., Yuan, K., Wan, Y., Xie, Z., Xu, X., Zhang, H., Song, Q., Yao, L., Fang, X., Li, Y., Xu, W., Zhang, J., & Dai, L. (2017). Refractive Index Sensor Based on Leaky Resonant Scattering of Single Semiconductor Nanowire. ACS Photonics, 4(3), 688-694. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsphotonics.7b00064