Copper-based surface plasmon coupled emission steering for biosensor applications

Abstract

Surface plasmon coupled emission (PCE) was demonstrated using Copper (Cu) as metal film and Rhodamine B (RhB) dye doped Poly Vinyl Alcohol (PVA) as dielectric layer coupled to a hemicylindrical prism in Reverse Kretschmann (RK) configuration. Emission directionality was observed due to PCE and the dielectric layer thicknesses highly influence PCE emission steering. A correlation of emission directionality and the dielectric layer thickness was achieved. For dielectric with higher thicknesses, PCE tuning was also observed apart from emission steering. Emission steering and a promising PCE tuning in Cu could pave the way for a cost effective PCE based bio-chemical sensor.