Surface plasmons and Bloch surface waves: Towards optimized ultra-sensitive optical sensors
Résumé
In photonics, the field concentration and enhancement have been major objectives for achieving size
reduction and device integration. Plasmonics offers resonant field confinement and enhancement, but
ultra-sharp optical resonances in all-dielectric multi-layer thin films are emerging as a powerful contestant.
Thus, applications capitalizing upon stronger and sharper optical resonances and larger field
enhancements could be faced with a choice for the superior platform. Here, we present a comparison
between plasmonic and dielectric multi-layer thin films for their resonance merits. We show that the
remarkable characteristics of the resonance behavior of optimized dielectric multi-layers can outweigh
those of their metallic counterpart.