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Optimized Plasmonic Gold-Pillar Metasurfaces for Refractive-Index Sensing
Liliana Valente1, Dante M Aceti1, Rossella Zaffino2
1NLHT-Lab, Department of Physics, University of Calabria and CNR-NANOTEC, Institute of Nanotechnology, 87036 Rende, Italy.
Nanomaterials (Basel, Switzerland)
|July 27, 2026
Summary
Gold pillar metasurfaces offer advanced optical sensing capabilities. Optimized designs achieve high sensitivity and a figure of merit (FOM) of 79 for refractive index sensing.
Area of Science:
- Plasmonics
- Nanophotonics
- Optical Sensing
Background:
- Gold pillar-based metasurfaces leverage localized surface plasmon resonances for optical sensing.
- Their tunable near-field distributions offer potential for enhanced sensing performance.
Purpose of the Study:
- To numerically investigate and optimize a gold-pillar metasurface for high-performance refractive-index sensing.
- To explore the impact of geometric parameters and incidence angles on the metasurface's optical response.
Main Methods:
- Comprehensive parametric optimization of the gold-pillar metasurface.
- Analysis included varying the inter-pillar gap and gold film thickness.
- Investigated optical response under different angles of incidence.
Main Results:
- Achieved a high sensitivity of 500 nm/RIU for refractive index sensing.
- Determined a Figure of Merit (FOM) of 79.
- Identified optimal design parameters for enhanced sensing.
Conclusions:
- The engineered plasmonic pillar array demonstrates significant potential for high-performance refractive-index sensing.
- Provides practical design guidelines for developing future chemical and biological sensors.
- Highlights the utility of gold pillar metasurfaces in advanced optical sensing applications.
