Excitation of surface phonon polariton modes in gold gratings with silicon carbide substrate and their potential sensing applications

Abstract We demonstrate the excitation of surface phonon polaritons (SPhPs) in the mid-infrared (mid-IR) Reststrahlen band (10.288 μm-12.563 μm) on patterned surfaces with silicon carbide (SiC) substrate and gold (Au) gratings. The very large negative permittivity of Au limits its applications in the mid-IR range, and to couple incident light to SPhPs modes, their momentum mismatch can be compensated by patterning Au grating onto the surface of SiC substrate. Samples were fabricated and characterized experimentally by Fourier transform infrared reflection (FTIR) spectroscopy. The optical properties were also simulated by the rigorous coupled wave analysis (RCWA) method. Reflection dips are observed for light polarized vertical to the grating lines (TM-polarized), which are attributed to the coupling of electromagnetic (EM) waves into the SPhP modes. In addition, we present small-volume index sensing with analyte specificity based on mid-IR SPhPs in the fabricated configuration.