Optical and Quantum Electronics (2021) 53:67

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11082-020-02703-z

A near infrared plasmonic perfect absorber as a sensor

for hemoglobin concentration detection

Mehdi Askari1

Received: 6 May 2020 / Accepted: 21 December 2020 / Published online: 22 January 2021
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC part of Springer Nature 2021

Abstract
In this paper, we introduce a new metamaterial structure that perfectly absorbs the elec-
tromagnetic wave in a narrow frequency band in the near infrared frequency region. In
addition to extensively illustrating the physical mechanism behind this perfect absorbing
behavior, we completely investigate the applicability of the proposed structure as a sensi-
tive refractive-index-based sensor, with the highest sensitivity calculated to be 1400 nm/
RIU and the highest figure of merit to be 28.57. The sensor has the potential to be used for
different useful applications. As an example, we elaborately and in detail, discuss the appli-
cation of the sensor for hemoglobin concentration detection.

Keywords Biosensors · Infrared sensors · Metamaterials · Perfect absorbers · Plasmonic

devices · Nanoscale devices

1 Introduction

Due to progresses in nanotechnology and nanoelectronics, investigation on surface plas-

mons (SP) has attracted much interest in recent two decades (Dragoman and Dragoman
2008). SPs are waves that propagate along the surface of a conductor. These are the light
waves which, because of interaction with the free electrons of a conductor (usually a
metal), are trapped on the surface. Due to this interaction, electrons oscillate collectively in
resonance with the incident electromagnetic wave (Barnes et al. 2003; Barnes 2006). The
resonant interaction of the surface charges with the incident electromagnetic field, generat-
ing SPs, leads to unique characteristics, and useful applications in different fields of sci-
ence and technology including optics, material science, biology, nanoelectronics and nano-
technology (Barnes et al. 2003; Dragoman and Dragoman 2009).
Localized surface plasmon resonances (LSPR), in plasmonic devices, strongly depend
on the shape and dimensions of the structure, along with the dielectric characteristics of
the neighboring medium (Stewart et al. 2008). Consequently, changing the surrounding
dielectric medium, which is accompanied with changes in the refractive index, leads to a

* Mehdi Askari
mehdiaskari@kazerunsfu.ac.ir
1
Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Salman Farsi University of Kazerun,
Kazerun 73196‑73544, Iran

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67 Page 2 of 14 M. Askari

change in the resonance frequency, a property which can be utilized in designing sensors
(Stewart et al. 2008; Hutter and Fendler 2004; Ghosh et al. 2004). On this basis, many
different refractive-index-based plasomonic sensors have been introduced so far for many
different purposes (Rakhshani 2019, 2020; Rakhshani and Mansouri-Birjandi 2018; Baqir
et al. 2018; Farmani 2019; Farmani et al. 2020).
One of the main problems involving metallic plasmonic devices is related to the losses,
which are unavoidable specially when metallic structures are dealt with. Although many
efforts, through optimization of the geometry of the structure or by using gain materials,
have been made to reduce the losses (Tassin et al. 2012; Askari et al. 2018; Zhou et al.
2008), nevertheless, there have been some introduced plasmonic structures in which
enhancement in losses is highly desirable (Landy et al. 2008; Tao et al. 2008; Wang et al.
2009; Moradiani et al. 2020). In this class of structures, a perfect absorption in a wide or
narrow frequency band, depending on the specific intended application, is the most pre-
ferred (Kiani et al. 2020). They can be used in very useful applications such as thermal
emitters (Wu et al. 2012; Guo et al. 2014; Liu et al. 2011; Cui et al. 2012; Diem et al. 2009)
and sensors (Liu et al. 2010a; Feng et al. 2019; Alipour et al. 2020; Askari and Hosseini
2020a; Kazanskiy et al. 2020; Butt et al. 2020).
One of the most widespread tools for creating localized surface plasmons (LSP) is by
using metamaterials. Metamaterials are subwavelength periodic structures with character-
istics not available in natural materials (Pendry et al. 2006; Valentine et al. 2008; Askari
et al. 2013, 2018), and with the flexibility to be designed to operate in different frequency
regions including microwave (Niakan et al. 2012), infrared (Askari and Zakery 2016), and
optical (Enkrich et al. 2005). They also have the facility to be tailored to suit diverse appli-
cations such as superlensing (Pendry 2000), slow light applications (Jahromi and Askari
2014; Askari and Hosseini 2020b), cloaking (Ergin et al. 2010), and information storage
(Tsakmakidis et al. 2007). In this research, using a periodic metamaterial structure, we pro-
pose a design for achieving perfect absorption in a narrow frequency band in the near infra-
red frequency region, which can be exploited for sensing applications. Each unit cell of
the structure contains two layers. The first layer includes a rectangular ring symmetrically
deposited in the middle of a cuboid hole, which, in turn, is emptied out symmetrically of
a bigger metallic block of cuboid shape. The second layer consists only of a uniform, rela-
tively thin metallic slab, deposited on a dielectric substrate, and along with the first layer
sandwich a thin buffer layer. We comprehensively unveil the underlying physics behind
the perfect absorptive behavior of the structure, as well as how some of the geometrical
parameters affect the resonance frequency and absorption amplitude. By scrutinizing the
application of the structure as a sensor, we find out that the sensitivity and the figure of
merit (FOM) of the sensor take satisfactory values, compared to analogous works reported
in literature. The sensor has the potential to be utilized for diverse refractive-index-based
applications. As an example, we intensively discuss how it can be applied for hemoglobin
concentration detection.

2 Excitation of surface plasmons

SPs are generated by interaction of surface charges on a metallic element with an elec-
tromagnetic field under special conditions. Solving Maxwell’s equations, with appropriate
boundary conditions, reveals that the SP wavevector, kSP , takes the following form Sambles
et al. (1991),

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A near infrared plasmonic perfect absorber as a sensor for… Page 3 of 14 67

√
𝜖d 𝜖m
kSP = k0 (1)
𝜖d + 𝜖m

in which 𝜖m is the frequency-dependent permittivity of the metal and 𝜖d is the permittiv-

ity of the dielectric, and they must have different signs if SPs are to be generated. With
this condition satisfied, the SP wavevector, kSP , would be greater than the free space wave
vector of the electromagnetic wave, k0, and consequently, the momentum of the SP mode,
ℏkSP , would be greater than that of the photon in free space, ℏk0. The problem of momen-
tum mismatch between the electromagnetic wave and the SPs must be unraveled for the
SPs to be generated. There are three methods for working this problem out. The first is
by using a glass prism to enhance the momentum of the incident light (Otto 1968). Via
the second method, one can make use of scattering effects from geometrical defects, such
as subwavelength holes, created purposefully on the surface of metallic elements (Hecht
et al. 1996; Ditlbacher et al. 2002). And the third technique is using periodic roughness and
grooves on the surface of metals (Ritchie et al. 1968). For the structure introduced in this
paper, the second method of making holes on the surface of metallic element is employed.
According to new definitions of metamaterials, they can be referred to as periodic struc-
tures with subwavelength unit cells, which can be designed and engineered for desired
applications (Zheludev 2010). The unit cell of the proposed structure in this paper is
smaller than the wavelength of the incident electromagnetic wave, and therefore, it can be
called a metamaterial structure.

3 The sensor design

Figure 1 shows schematic of a unit cell of the proposed plasmonic biosensor, as well as a
section of its periodic structure. As can be seen from the figure, we first use a glass sub-
strate of the permittivity 𝜖 = 2.2 and the thickness ts = 100 nm on top of which a metallic
layer consisting of a uniform gold slab of thickness 60 nm is deposited (the first metal-
lic layer). Above this slab, a buffer layer of thickness 30 nm is exploited, on top of which
another metallic layer, i.e. second metallic layer is deposited. This latter layer, filling the
whole unit cell in the x and y directions, is composed of a metallic block of thickness
t1 = 170 nm in the z direction, and at the center it contains a rectangular hole of dimen-
sions lx = 230 nm and ly = 130 nm . Within this hole, a rectangular ring of outer dimen-
sions lx� = 180 nm and ly� = 90 nm , the width w = 40 nm , and the thickness t2 along the
z-direction is placed. Consequently, each unit cell consists effectively of two metallic lay-
ers sandwiching a buffer layer. The unit cell dimensions along the x- and the y-directions
are, respectively, Px = 340 nm and Py = 360 nm . The structure is periodic along the x- and
y-directions, whereas it is single layered along the z-direction. In simulations, we make use
of perfect electric and magnetic conductors on the confining planes of the unit cell perpen-
dicular, respectively, to the x and y axis. Taking boundary conditions in this way warrants
the periodicity of the structure in the x-y plane, as well as, the electric field component of
the incident electromagnetic wave being along the x-direction.
In simulations, using a commercial software package CST, we employ a finite element
method. A linearly polarized plane electromagnetic wave, propagating along the z-direc-
tion, is considered to normally illuminate the structure, with its electric field component
along the x-direction and the magnetic field component along the y-direction. For metallic
elements, we use the Drude free electron model,

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67 Page 4 of 14 M. Askari

Fig. 1  The structure of the

proposed plasmonic biosensor.
A linearly polarized electro-
magnetic wave, with the shown
polarization direction, is incident
normal to the surface of the
structure, propagating along the
z-direction. The parameters and
dimensions are Px = 340 nm ,
Py = 360 nm , lx = 230 nm ,
ly = 130 nm , lx� = 180, ly� = 90,
w = 40 nm , t1 = 170 nm ,
t2 = 60 nm,tb = 30 nm , and
ts = 100 nm . a A front view,
and b a perspective view of a
unit cell, and c a section of the
periodic structure

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A near infrared plasmonic perfect absorber as a sensor for… Page 5 of 14 67

𝜔2p
𝜖(𝜔) = 1 − , (2)
𝜔2 + i𝛾𝜔
in which 𝜔p is the plasma frequency, which we take to be 1.38 × 1016 rad∕s, and 𝛾 is the
damping constant which is taken as 3.3 × 1014 1∕s (Tassin et al. 2012; Ordal et al. 1983).
For the damping constant, we take a value which is three times larger than its bulk value
counterpart, in order to take into account surface scattering effects in nanometer dimen-
sions (Zhang et al. 2006; Dolling et al. 2006).

4 A perfect absorber

We first, considering air as the medium surrounding the structure, calculate the reflec-
tion, the transmission, and the absorption spectra. The results are shown in Fig. 2. There
can be seen a resonant behavior at 287 THz, which is disclosed as a dip in the reflection
and a peak in the absorption spectra. As can be perceived from the figure, the absorp-
tion amplitude reaches a value as high as 99.88 percent in a narrow frequency bandwidth
which renders the structure a resonant perfect absorber. A detailed physical mechanism
behind this perfect abrobing behavior can be explained as follows; The structure almost
completely reflects all the incident electromagnetic wave except in a relatively narrow fre-
quency region around the resonance frequency. At the resonance, the electromagnetic wave
is transmitted through the first layer, via surface plasmons induced on the inner interfaces
of the holes of the first layer, entering the region between the first and the second metallic
layers. The wave is, then, reflected from the second metallic layer which behaves as a mir-
ror, and is trapped in the region between the two layers. Consequently, this trapped wave
would be absent in the reflected and transmitted wave, and therefore, makes the main con-
tribution to the absorption spectrum at the resonance. In this view, the structure behaves
somehow similar to the theoretical black body as a perfect absorber. To better understand
the underlying physics of the matter-wave interactions, we present the results of the elec-
tric field simulations at the resonance frequency 287 THz, and a typical nonresonance fre-
quency 210 THz, in Fig. 3. As can be noticed, an intense electric field is observed at the
resonance frequency, which is absent in the case of the nonresonant frequency, confirming
a resonant surface plasmon excitation at the resonance frequency.

Fig. 2  The structure with a 1

double layered unit cell exhibits Reflection
a resonance at 287 THz. At the Absorption
0.8
resonance frequency, the absorp- Transmission
tion reaches the highest value
Normalized to 1

99.88 percent, which renders the 0.6

structure a perfect absorber
0.4

0.2

0
180 200 220 240 260 280 300 320 340
Frequency (THz)

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67 Page 6 of 14 M. Askari

Fig. 3  The electric field vector plot; a at the resonance frequency 287 THz, and b at a typical nonresonant
frequency 210 THz

It has been proved that the resonant behavior of a plasmonic structure is highly depend-
ent on the geometrical shape and dimensions of the structure (Barnes et al. 2003). To partly
inquire into this notion for the present structure, we investigate the effect of the ring width,
w, the thickness of the buffer layer tb, and the the thickness of the first uniform metallic
slab t2 on the resonance frequency and absorption amplitude. For this purpose, by keep-
ing the outer dimensions of the ring constant, we first increase the width of the ring from
w = 10 nm to w = 45 nm , with the results of absorption profiles represented in Fig. 4a. As
is clear in the figure, by increasing the ring width, the resonance frequency shifts towards
higher frequencies and the absorption amplitude increases with the optimal value 99.88 for
the width w = 40 nm.
To be more explicit, the exact resonance frequencies and the maximum absorption
amplitudes are represented in Table 1. Subsequently, keeping all other dimensions of the
structure constant, we simulate the absorption amplitude for six different thicknesses of the
buffer layer tb = 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, and 70 nm , and as can be seen in Fig. 4b, we observe
that except a minor change in the resonance frequencies, no considerable difference in the
absorption amplitudes is detected. Finally, maintaining all other dimensions constant, we
increase the first layer thickness from t2 = 20 nm to t2 = 70 nm , in steps of 10 nm , and find
the optimum thickness of t2 = 60 nm for which the absorption reaches the highest value of
99.95 percent.

5 The refractive index sensing

As the refractive index of the medium surrounding the structure changes, the resonance
frequency, revealed as a dip in the reflection and a peak in the absorption profiles, changes
as well. For a detailed investigation of this behavior, we alter the refractive index of the
medium around the structure, by considering the values n = 1, 1.01, 1.02, 1.03, 1.04, 1.05
for the refractive indices, and study the reflection and absorption spectra. The results are
shown in Fig. 5. As can be seen, the resonance frequency exhibits a redshift towards lower
frequencies as the refractive index of the surrounding medium is increased. This phe-
nomenon reveals the fact that by a suitable calibration, one can determine the refractive
index and, therefore, the nature of the surrounding medium, via measuring the resonance

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Fig. 4  The dependence of the (a)

resonance frequency, as well 1
w=10 nm
as the maximum absorption

Absorption (normalized to 1)
w=20 nm
amplitude, on a the width of the 0.8 w=30 nm
metallic rectangular ring, b on w=40 nm
the buffer layer thickness, and c w=45 nm
on the thickness of the uniform 0.6
metallic layer
0.4

0.2

0
180 200 220 240 260 280 300 320 340
Frequency (THz)
(b)

(c)

Table 1  The resonance Rectangular ring width Resonance frequency (THz) Absorp-
frequencies, as well as the tion
absorption percentage, for (percent)
different values of the width of
the metallic rectangular ring
10 227.7 54.81
20 266.9 90.28
30 281.3 98.81
40 287 99.88
45 288.6 98.83

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67 Page 8 of 14 M. Askari

Fig. 5  As the refractive index 1

of the medium around the

Absorption (normalized to 1)
structure increases, the resonance n=1
frequency exhibits a red shift 0.8 n=1.01
towards lower frequencies n=1.02
n=1.03
0.6 n=1.04
n=1.05
0.4

0.2

0
180 200 220 240 260 280 300 320 340
Frequency (THz)

frequency. There are important and deterministic parameters about refractive-index-based

sensors that are usually calculated when a new sensor is introduced, and are measures of
the utility of the sensor for practical applications. One is the sensitivity, which is defined as
the change in the resonance wavelength (frequency) per unit change in the refractive index
of the surrounding medium, and is expressed in nm/RIU (THz/RIU) (Lee et al. 2010).
Another one is called figure of merit (FOM) and is defined as the ratio of the sensitiv-
ity value to the full width at half maximum/minimum occurring at the resonance (Sherry
et al. 2006). The FOM is a significant parameter in this respect that it provides a tool for a
better evaluation of the sensing performance, and for an easier way of comparing sensors
operating in different frequency regimes. There is still another important parameter about
sensors that determines the sharpness and resolution of the resonance. It is called qual-
ity factor (Q-factor), and is defined as the ratio of the resonance frequency to the FWHM
(Kazanskiy et al. 2020). According to the resonance frequencies and the full widths at half
maxima, appearing in Fig. 5, we calculate the sensitivity and FOM of the structure for the
successive refractive indices mentioned in the figure. The results are represented in Fig. 6.
As can be seen, the maximum value of the sensitivity is 1400 nm/RIU which is satisfactory
compared to other refractive-index-based sensors reported in literature. For comparison, in
Table 2, we present the sensitivities of some of the refractive-index-based sensors, operat-
ing in the same frequency region, reported in other works. For the FOM, the highest value
calculated for our sensor is 28.57, which although not that much high, is still an accept-
able value. For example, reported values for the FOM for analogous sensors in the refer-
ences Liu et al. (2010b), Rashed et al. (2018), Lodewijks et al. (2012), Huang et al. (2012),
Gerislioglu et al. (2020), and Pryce et al. (2011) are, respectively, 5.3, 6.1, 8.3, 3.1, 22.6,
and 8.5. Detailed magnitudes of the resonance wavelengths, FWHMs, sensitivities, FOMs,
Q-factors, and etc, are represented in Table 3.

6 Hemoglobin concentration detection

The refractive indices of different hemoglobin concentrations 65 g/l, 87 g/l, 173 g/l, and
260 g/l, each at different wavelengths 480 nm , 486 nm , 546 nm , 589 nm , 644 nm , 656 nm ,
680 nm , 930 nm , 1100 nm , 1300 nm , and 1550 nm have been reported by Lazareva and
Tuchin (2018). As a dispersion relation for the refractive index, one can use the Sellmeier
formula (Singh 2006),

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A near infrared plasmonic perfect absorber as a sensor for… Page 9 of 14 67

Fig. 6  a Sensitivity of the sensor 1400

versus refractive index. The max- (a)
imum sensitivity for the proposed 1300

Sensitivity (nm/RIU)
plasmonic sensor is calculated to
be 1400 nm/RIU. b The FOM of 1200
the sensor versus refractive index
of the surrounding medium. The 1100
maximum value of the FOM is
1000
28.57
900

800
1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05
Refractive index
30

28
(b)
26
Figure of merit

24

22

20

18

16
1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05
Refractive index

Table 2  The sensitivity values Reference number Sensi-

of some of the infrared refractive tivity
index based sensors already (nm/RIU)
introduced in literature
Shih et al. (2016) 527.7
Lodewijks et al. (2012) 208
Huang et al. (2012) 350
Butt et al. (2018) 690
Liu et al. (2010b) 588
Xu et al. (2019) 970

Table 3  The resonance wavelengths for different refractive indices used around the structure. n is the
refractive index, RW stands for the resonance wavelength, SRW for the shift in resonance wavelength,
FWHM for the full width at half maximum, S for the sensitivity, and FOM for the figure of merit

n RW (nm) SRW (nm) FWHM (nm) S (nm/RIU) FOM Q-factor

1 1039 – 48 – – 21.65
1.01 1048 9 48 900 18.75 21.83
1.02 1058 10 48 1000 20.83 22.04
1.03 1072 14 49 1400 28.57 21.88
1.04 1081 9 49 900 18.37 22.06
1.05 1089 8 50 800 16 21.78

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67 Page 10 of 14 M. Askari

Table 4  The coefficients of the Hb (g/l) a1 a2 b1 (nm2 ) b2 × 107 (nm2 )

Sellmeier formula for refractive
index of hemoglobin solutions
65 0.79099 685.08237 8366.45239 4024.35
of different concentrations, taken
from reference Lazareva and 87 0.80835 450.24119 9983.69749 2842.83
Tuchin (2018) 173 0.84507 402.89873 11065.32117 2540.72
260 0.88871 190.95319 10187.17167 1039.98

Fig. 7  (a) Refractive index, and

(b) permittivity of four concen- (a) 65 g/l
1.38 87 g/l
trations of hemoglobin solutions, 173 g/l

Refractive index
65 g/l, 87 g/l, 173 g/l, and 260 260 g/l
g/l, versus wavelength 1.36

1.34

1.32
600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600
Wavelength (nm)
1.95
(b) 65 g/l
87 g/l
1.9 173 g/l
260 g/l
Permittivity

1.85

1.8

1.75

600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600

Wavelength (nm)

a1 𝜆2 a2 𝜆2
n2 (𝜆) = 1 + + (3)
𝜆2 − b1 𝜆2 − b2

in which n is the refractive index, 𝜆 is the wavelength, and a1, a2, b1, and b2 are constants
to be determined empirically. These constants for the mentioned hemoglobin concentration
solutions are represented in Table 4, (taken from Lazareva and Tuchin 2018).
According to the operating frequency/wavelength range of our proposed sensor, we can
trustfully use the Sellmeier formula for the refractive indices of hemoglobin solutions of
different concentrations, with the constants represented in Table 4. Figure 7a and b show
how the refractive index, n, and the electric permittivity, 𝜖 , of the hemoglobin solutions
depend on electromagnetic wavelength. Part (a) of the figure is in complete accordance
with the corresponding diagram in Lazareva and Tuchin (2018). By considering the
refractive indices of hemoglobin solutions of mentioned concentrations as the refractive
index of the medium surrounding the structure, we obtain the absorption spectrum, with
the results shown in Fig. 8. It can be deduced from the figure that as the concentration
of the hemoglobin solution is increased, the resonance frequency shifts towards lower

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A near infrared plasmonic perfect absorber as a sensor for… Page 11 of 14 67

Fig. 8  Absorption and reflection 1

spectra from the structure when 65 g/l
hemoglobin solutions of different 87 g/l
0.8 173 g/l
concentrations are used around 260 g/l
the structure. The resonance

Absorption
frequencies are clearly separated 0.6
for solutions of different concen-
trations 0.4

0.2

0
180 200 220 240 260 280
Frequency (THz)

frequencies, exhibiting a redshift. Besides, a clear distinction between resonance frequen-

cies is observed for solutions of different concentrations. To be more clear, the resonance
frequencies for different hemoglobin solution concentrations, are represented in Table 5.
Consequently, the proposed sensor can be utilized confidently for hemoglobin concentra-
tion detection.

7 Conclusions and future outlook

In this paper, we designed a sensor, with the main parts composed of metallic elements,
that operates at near infrared frequencies. The sensor is composed of two metallic layers.
The first layer consists only of a relatively thin and uniform metallic slab which acts as
a metallic mirror. The second layer is composed of a relatively thick metallic cuboid at
the center of which a cuboid hole of the same thickness has been symmetrically emptied
out. Besides, at the center of the hole, a metallic rectangular ring has been symmetrically
deposited. The two metallic layers are separated by a thin buffer layer. With a mechanism
analogous to the theoretical blackbody, the structure exhibits a resonant perfect absorbing
behavior, the underlying physics behind which has been elaborately discussed. It turns out
that the resonance frequency of the structure strongly depends on the refractive index of
the surrounding medium. On this basis, the structure could reasonably act as a refractive-
index-based sensor, the sensing capabilities of which has been thoroughly investigated. The
calculated maximum sensitivity and FOM of the sensor are, respectively, 1400 nm/RIU and
28.57, both of which are satisfactory values. At the end, we have examined the potential
application of the proposed sensor for hemoglobin concentration detection. While using
four different solution concentrations 65 g/l, 87 g/l, 173 g/l, 260 g/l, we observe adequately
separated resonance frequencies, confirming that we can trustfully employ the sensor for

Table 5  Resonance frequencies Hemoglobin concentration (g/l) Resonance

for different hemoglobin solution frequency
concentrations around the sensor (THz)

65 224.2
87 223
173 221
260 218.9

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67 Page 12 of 14 M. Askari

hemoglobin concentration detection. We should note that, by appropriately scaling the

dimensions of the proposed structure, one can tune the sensor to work in other frequency
regions such as microwave or optical. In addition, for further study, one can also use a thin
graphene layer on the inner interfaces, to possibly enhance the surface plasmon excitation
on metal-insulator boundaries and probably enhance sensing performance of the structure.
Since its permittivity is dependent on temperature, by using graphene, one might also find
a temperature sensor.

Author Contributions Not applicable.

Funding This paper is not funded and supported.

Compliance with ethical standards

Conflicts of interest I declare that there is no conflicts of interests pertaining to this paper.

Availability of data and material The datasets analysed during the current study are available from the cor-
responding author on reasonable request.

Code availability The software codes used during the current study are available from the corresponding
author on reasonable request.

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