title: Refractive index sensing with an air-slot photonic crystal nanocavity.
abstract: We investigate an air-slot photonic crystal cavity for high-precision refractive index sensing. The high quality factor approximately 2.6x10(4) of the cavity, along with a strong overlap between the resonant mode and the hollow core region, allows us to achieve an experimental sensitivity of 510nm per refractive index unit (RUI) and a detection limit below 1x10(-5)RUI. The device has a remarkably low sensing volume of 40aliters, holding less than 1x10(6)molecules.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Physique de la Matière Condensée, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL),Station 3, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland. jana.jagerska@epfl.ch
authors.forename: Jana
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jágerská
authors.forename: Hua
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Zhaolu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Diao
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Le Thomas
authors.forename: Romuald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Houdré