Self-corrected sensing based on a metal-dielectric-metal surface plasmon resonance structure for disturbance-free detection

A self-corrected sensing method is proposed and studied using a surface plasmon resonance scheme with metal-dielectric-metal (MDM) structure. The surface plasmon wave (SPW) modes supported by the MDM structure couple further to the SPW at sensing interface to form two kinds of hybridized SPWs. One of them is highly sensitive to the change in the optical constant of analyte solution, whereas the other is barely influenced by the change and can then be a reference signal to remove any drift. By using an intensity interrogation, the entirely different change in the intensity of reflected light at the corresponding resonance angles of the two hybridized SPWs were demonstrated both numerically and experimentally.