A bent fiber optic sensor based on gold nanoparticle-decorated silver film for integration of cytosensor and plasmonic photothermal therapy: A simulation study

Abstract

The fiber optic surface plasmonic resonance (SPR), with the unique characteristic of miniaturized devices, high refractive index sensitivity, and intense plasmonic photothermal effect, is a promising technique for advanced biosensors in clinical medicine. Studies on the synergistic influence factors of the dual performance of refractive index sensitivity and surface heat field are benefitted for integration of cytosensor and phototherapy. Herein, a gold nanoparticle-decorated silver film (AuNPs-AgFM) was simulated as the coating to construct a bent fiber optic surface plasmonic resonance (SPR) through a Finite Element Method (FEM). Bending leads core mode to shift away from the center of curvature into the fiber cladding, which further reacted with the AgFM and AuNPs to generate the short wavelength peaks for cytosensor and long wavelength peaks for plasmonic photothermal therapy, respectively. Furthermore, the parameters of bent radius, AuNPs’ size, and thickness of AgFM were optimized considering both refractive index sensitivity and surface temperature. Under the optimal condition, the designed SPR biosensor exhibit high amplification sensitivity (AS) of − 2301.6 (1/RIU), wavelength sensitivity (WS) of 3120 (nm/RIU), and surface temperature of 54.9 ℃ under irradiation of near-infrared ray (NIR) laser. The proposed AuNPs-AgFM-based fiber optic SPR biosensor provides an alternative scheme to integrate cytosensor and phototherapy, further pushing fiber optics to clinical application.