This article presents a review of the numerical techniques employed in simulating plasmonic optical sensors based on metal-dielectric nanostructures, including examples, ranging from conventional D-type fiber sensors, to those based on photonic crystal D-type fibers and incorporating metamaterials, nanowires, among other new materials and components, results and applications. We start from the fundamental physical processes, such as optical and plasmonic mode coupling, and discuss the implementation of the numerical model, optical response customization and their impact in sensor performance. Finally, we examine future perspectives.
Keywords: D-type fiber; finite-element method; metallic nanowires; metamaterials; nanoplasmonics; numerical methods; optical fiber sensors; optical mode coupling; photonic crystal fiber; refractive index sensor; surface plasmon resonance.