Transmission-type SPR sensor based on coupling of surface plasmons to radiation modes using a dielectric grating

A transmission-type surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor is presented. In the transmission-type SPR structure, surface plasmon waves are outcoupled to radia-tion modes by the use of dielectric grating on a thin-film layer of Ag. Compared with the traditional reflection-type SPR sensor, the new method provides larger detectable range, which might be useful to investigate thick targets such as in cell analysis. Theoretical simulations show that the structures provide high transmission efficiency for surface plasmon resonance and the devices present extre-mely linear sensing characteristics. Furthermore, it is found that the transmission efficiency and the refractive index detection sensitivity of the SPR sensor can be improved by the use of a lower refractive index glass prism.