Hafnium dioxide as a dielectric for highly-sensitive waveguide-coupled surface plasmon resonance sensors

Hafnium dioxide has been recognized as an excellent dielectric for microelectronics. However, its usefulness for the surface plasmon based sensors has not yet been tested. Here we investigate its usefulness for waveguide-coupled bi-metallic surface plasmon resonance sensors. Several Ag/HfO2/Au multilayer structure sensors were fabricated and evaluated by optical measurements and computer simulations. The resulting data establish correlations between the growth parameters and sensor performance. The sensor sensitivity to refractive index of analytes is determined to be Sn=∂θSPR∂n≥470. The sensitivity data are supported by simulations, which also predict 314 nm for the evanescent field decay length in air.