Optical Refractive Index Sensing Based on High-Q Bound States in the Continuum in Free-Space Coupled Photonic Crystal Slabs

High sensitivity (S) and high quality factor (Q) are desirable to achieve low detection limit in label-free optical sensors. In this paper, we theoretically demonstrate that single-layer and coupled bi-layer photonic crystal slabs (PCS) possess simultaneously high S and high Q near the bound states in the continuum (BIC). We theoretically achieved S > 800 nm/RIU and Q > 10⁷ in refractive index sensing in the 1400-1600 nm telecom optical wavelength bands. We experimentally demonstrated an S of 94 nm/RIU and a Q of 1.2 × 10⁴, with a detection limit of 6 × 10^-5 refractive index unit. These sensor designs can find applications in biochemical sensing, environmental monitoring, and healthcare.