Terahertz gas sensing based on a simple one-dimensional photonic crystal cavity with high-quality factors

We report in this paper terahertz gas sensing using a simple 1D photonic crystal cavity. The resonant frequencies of the cavity depend linearly on the refractive index of the ambient gas, which can then be measured by monitoring the resonance shift. Although quite easy to manufacture, this cavity exhibits high-quality factors, facilitating the realization of high sensitivity in the gas refractive index sensing. In our experiment, 6% of the change of hydrogen concentration in air, which corresponds to a refractive index change of 1.4 x 10(-5), can be steadily detected, and different gas samples can be easily identified. Our experimental results are consistent with the theoretically calculated spectral responses of the cavity using the transfer matrix method. (C) 2014 Optical Society of America