Modeling and analysis of D–shaped plasmonic refractive index and temperature sensor using photonic crystal fiber

In this study, a D–type photonic crystal fiber (PCF) based surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor is proposed for measurement of both refractive index (RI) and temperature. The RI sensing part is constructed by deposition of a silver layer on the plane of the D–type structure, and the temperature sensing part is formed by filling the silver nanowire and the liquid analyte into an elliptical hole in the PCF. The proposed design then can be used for temperature and analyte RI sensing through the coupling between the core guided modes and the surface plasmon modes around the nano silver rod and layer. We study the coupling characteristic and sensing performance of the sensor. The numerical results show that the maximal sensitivity in terms of RI units (RIU) is 6.9 μm/RIU in the range of 1.33–1.38, and the maximal temperature sensitivity is 3 nm /°C in the range of 27–67 °C.