In this work, a novel approach to realize a plasmonic sensor is presented. The proposed optical sensor device is designed, manufactured, and experimentally tested. Two photo-curable resins are used to 3D print a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor. Both numerical and experimental analyses are presented in the paper. The numerical and experimental results confirm that the 3D printed SPR sensor presents performances, in term of figure of merit (FOM), very similar to other SPR sensors made using plastic optical fibers (POFs). For the 3D printed sensor, the measured FOM is 13.6 versus 13.4 for the SPR-POF configuration. The cost analysis shows that the 3D printed SPR sensor can be manufactured at low cost (∼15 €) that is competitive with traditional sensors. The approach presented here allows to realize an innovative SPR sensor showing low-cost, 3D-printing manufacturing free design and the feasibility to be integrated with other optical devices on the same plastic planar support, thus opening undisclosed future for the optical sensor systems.
Microstructured Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensor Based on Inkjet 3D Printing Using Photocurable Resins with Tailored Refractive Index