Simulation and Analysis of a Metamaterial Sensor Based on a Microring Resonator

Metamaterials are artificial media structured on a size scale smaller than the wavelength of external stimuli, that may provide novel tools to significantly enhance the sensitivity and resolution of the sensors. In this paper, we derive the dispersion relation of hollow cylindrical dielectric waveguide, and compute the resonant frequencies and Q factors of the corresponding Whispering-Gallery-Modes (WGM). A metamaterial sensor based on microring resonator operating in WGM is proposed, and the resonance intensity spectrum curves in the frequency range from 185 to 212 THz were studied under different sensing conditions. Full-wave simulations, considering the frequency shift sensitivity influenced by the change of core media permittivity, the thickness and permittivity of the adsorbed substance, prove that the sensitivity of the metamaterial sensor is more than 7 times that of the traditional microring resonator sensor, and the metamaterial layer loaded in the inner side of the microring doesn’t affect the high Q performance of the microring resonator.