High performance for refractive index sensors via symmetry-protected guided mode resonance.

The symmetry breaking in a typical dielectric GMR-grating structure allows the coupling of the incident wave with the so-called Symmetry-Protected Modes (SPM). In this present work, the excitation conditions of such particular modes are investigated. A parametric study including the grating dimensions is carried out to exploit them for a blood refractive index sensing with higher Sensitivity (S) and Figure Of Merit (FOM). To our knowledge, the performances obtained by FDTD calculations (Q = 2.1 × 104, S = 657 nm/RIU and FOM ≃ ~9 112 RIU−1) and FMM calculations (Q = 3 × 106, S = 656 nm/RIU and FOM ≃ ~1.64 × 106 RIU−1) are the highest level reached.