Ultrathin niobium nanofilms on fiber optical tapers – a new route towards low-loss hybrid plasmonic modes

Due to the ongoing improvement in nanostructuring technology, ultrathin metallic nanofilms have recently gained substantial attention in plasmonics, e.g. as building blocks of metasurfaces. Typically, noble metals such as silver or gold are the materials of choice, due to their excellent optical properties, however they also possess some intrinsic disadvantages. Here, we introduce niobium nanofilms (~10 nm thickness) as an alternate plasmonic platform. We demonstrate functionality by depositing a niobium nanofilm on a plasmonic fiber taper and observe a dielectric-loaded niobium surface-plasmon excitation for the first time, with a modal attenuation of only 3–4 dB/mm in aqueous environment and a refractive index sensitivity up to 15 μm/RIU if the analyte index exceeds 1.42. We show that the niobium nanofilm possesses bulk optical properties, is continuous, homogenous and inert against any environmental influence, thus possessing several superior properties compared to noble metal nanofilms. These results demonstrate that ultrathin niobium nanofilms can serve as a new platform for biomedical diagnostics, superconducting photonics, ultrathin metasurfaces or new types of optoelectronic devices.