In this work, we present a parametric study, by means of numerical simulations, of an integrated Mach-Zehnder interferometer, where the sensing arm consists of a long-range surface plasmon polariton waveguide. Our hybrid dielectric-plasmonic structure is designed specifically for biologically relevant situations, where high-sensitivity sensing of refractive index is critical for tracing small changes in analytes which are commonly presented in aqueous solution form. The design of our device is realistic as it can be fabricated with commercial-grade materials that are commonly available in clean room facilities. Overall, our results validate the use of the proposed structure for high-sensitivity refractive index sensing, based on the sensitivity obtained in our study.

在这项工作中，我们通过数值模拟的方法对集成的Mach-Zehnder干涉仪进行了参数研究，其中传感臂由远程表面等离激元极化波导管组成。我们的混合介电等离子体结构是专门为生物学相关情况而设计的，在这种情况下，高灵敏度的折射率感应对于追踪通常以水溶液形式存在的分析物的微小变化至关重要。我们的设备的设计是切合实际的，因为它可以使用无尘室设施中通常可用的商业级材料制造。总体而言，我们的研究结果基于我们在研究中获得的灵敏度，验证了所提出的结构可用于高灵敏度折射率传感。