Sensing with periodic nanohole arrays

In this paper we review the resonance conditions of periodic indentations in metallic layers and evaluate their potential for surface sensing of analytes. A review of significant contributions of nanohole arrays for sensing is presented in a first section. It is then followed by a theoretical analysis of their optical properties using coupled mode theory and an evaluation of their potential for sensing. The sensitivity, resolution, and field distribution are presented as a function of the different parameters of the metal film (periodicity, hole size, and thickness) to determine the optimal design for sensing. The focus of this paper is made on 1-D nanoslit arrays and 2-D square nanohole arrays to identify general considerations regarding sensing experiments using these types of structure. We include a MATLAB user interface, also available as a standalone application, that plots the transmission and reflection spectrum as well as the field distribution of nanohole arrays.