Refractive Index Sensor Based on Terahertz Metamaterial Absorber with High Sensitivity and Quality Factor for Sensing Applications

This research describes and assesses a terahertz metamaterial absorber (TMA) with a simple and easy-to-produce structure consisting of gold-silicon (optical)-gold design as a refractive index sensing. Due to the high field limitation in the detection regime, electromagnetic (EM) wave’s absorption reaches 99.40% at a frequency of 3.719 THz, including a significant quality factor (Q-Factor) of 65.77 and a figure of merit, FoM, of 21.49. The TMA has an remarkable sensitivity of 1.215 THz/RIU and can be used as a refractive index sensor (RIS). The proposed metamaterial absorber-based sensor is susceptible to refractive index changes (1.00 to 1.05) in the surrounding medium. For the physical absorption mechanism, the fundamental absorption peak is mainly due to the simultaneous occurrence of electric and magnetic dipole resonances. The proposed absorber has the feature of being an excellent RIS due to its sensing and detection applications.