Plasmonic non-dispersive infrared gas sensors

A method for analyzing a target gas, comprising the steps of:

• illuminating the target gas with light from a light source, wherein the light is incident on a plasmonic resonance detector comprising a differential plasmon resonator array having at least one first set of plasmonic resonators interwoven with at least one second set of plasmonic resonators, wherein the at least one first set of plasmonic resonators is configured to be resonant with the light at a first wavelength corresponding to a peak absorption wavelength of the target gas, wherein the at least one second set of plasmonic resonators is configured to be resonant with the light at a second wavelength corresponding to a reference wavelength, wherein the differential plasmon resonator array comprises a first set of ribbons of carbon nanotubes having a length L1 interwoven with a second set of ribbons of carbon nanotubes having a length L2, wherein the carbon nanotubes of the length L1 are configured to be resonant with the light at the first wavelength, and wherein the carbon nanotubes of the length L2 are configured to be resonant with the light at the second wavelength;
• absorbing the light by the at least one first set of plasmonic resonators and the at least one second set of plasmonic resonators, wherein the light at the first wavelength incident on the at least one first set of plasmonic resonators is dependent on an amount of the light at the first wavelength absorbed by the target gas;
• generating a photocurrent signal I1 in the at least one first set of plasmonic resonators and a photocurrent signal I2 in the at least one second set of plasmonic resonators;
• and
• determining a concentration of the target gas using I1-I2.

A method for forming a plasmonic resonance detector, comprising the step of:

• forming at least one first set of plasmonic resonators interwoven with at least one second set of plasmonic resonators, wherein the at least one first set of plasmonic resonators is configured to be resonant with light at a first wavelength corresponding to a peak absorption wavelength of a target gas, and wherein the at least one second set of plasmonic resonators is configured to be resonant with light at a second wavelength corresponding to a reference wavelength, wherein the method further comprises the steps of:
• forming a film of aligned carbon nanotubes on a substrate;
• patterning the film of aligned carbon nanotubes into a first set of ribbons of carbon nanotubes having a length L1 interwoven with a second set of ribbons of carbon nanotubes having a length L2, wherein the carbon nanotubes of the length L1 are configured to be resonant with light at the first wavelength, and wherein the carbon nanotubes of the length L2 are configured to be resonant with light at the second wavelength;
• and
• forming contacts to the first set of ribbons of carbon nanotubes and the second set of ribbons of carbon nanotubes.