Metasurface generated polarization insensitive Fano resonance for high-performance refractive index sensing.

A refractive index sensor can provide refractive index measurement and continuously monitor a dynamic process. Plasmonic nanostructure based sensors suffer from severe metal losses in the optical range, leading to the performance degradation. We design and numerically analyze a high-performance refractive index sensor based on the Fano resonance generated by a dielectric metasurface. The figure of merit (FOM) and the maximum quality factor (Q-factor) of the sensor are 721 and 5126, respectively. The maximum modulation depth can exceed 99% and the enhancement factor of the electric field amplitude can reach a high value of about 100. The uniqueness of the proposed sensor is polarization insensitivity. The transmittance spectra for various polarization states of the incident light can perfectly coincide, which is a rare phenomenon in Fano resonance based sensors and can facilitate experimental measurement.