Numerical study of a D-shaped optical fiber SPR biosensor for monitoring refractive index variations in biological tissue via a thin layer of gold coated with titanium dioxide

Abstract

This study aims to explore the numerical analysis of the impact of integrating titanium oxide (TiO2) into a D-shaped optical fiber biosensor based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR). A thin layer of gold (Au) is applied to the flat section of the fiber, which is also coated with a thin layer of titanium dioxide (TiO2). The behavior and performance of the proposed biosensor for use in biological environments are evaluated using the finite element method (FEM). The optical response of SPR-based biosensors is highly dependent on the analyzed medium, enabling the detection of pathogenic cells and abnormalities in biological tissues. This provides high sensitivity and selectivity, as well as real-time detection accuracy and speed. In this study, the biosensor is incorporated into a biological medium with a refractive index that varies with wavelength. A series of simulations have been conducted to plot the spectra of transmissions, absorptions, and dielectric losses obtained in the output of the sensor instrument. From these spectra, the corresponding surface plasmon resonance (SPR) wavelength (λSPR) within the visible-near-infrared band can be determined. Taking into account the various parameters that influence plasmonic interactions, the biosensor's performance parameters, in particular sensitivity and refractive index resolution have been optimized. Our results show that the presence of the TiO2 layer improves the performance of the proposed sensor and offers the possibility of adjusting the resonance wavelength (λSPR). In addition, our proposed sensor can achieve a better resolution of 7.50×10-6[RIU] in 1.34-143 range of analyte refractive index, which notably exceeds that of current technologies. This opens up new prospects in the field of chemical and biological detection.