Silicon carbide and zirconium nitride-based surface plasmon resonance sensors for detecting Serratia marcescens and...

A novel surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor design for point-of-care detection of different bacteria is presented. It consists of a SiO₂ prism, metal (Ag), silicon carbide (SiC), 2D materials of zirconium nitride (ZrN), and a sensing medium. The proposed structure's angular reflectivity is investigated using the transfer matrix method (TMM) following optimization of the Ag and SiC layer thicknesses. For the various types of bacteria such as Staphylococcus (S) aureus, faecalis 9790, aureus Duncan, and aureus 52A5, the maximal sensitivity of 327, 362.45, 301.46, and 269.87°/RIU is achieved with remarkable minimum reflectance (R_min). According to simulation results, using a new class of 2D materials significantly improves the sensor performance over the conventional SPR configuration. Furthermore, the proposed SPR structure is presented with COMSOL Multiphysics to measure the electric field enhancement factor and intensity close to the ZrN material-sensing layer interface. Using the fabrication technologies to fabricate the proposed sensor as an SPR chip is worthwhile due to its real-time and label-free detection of malaria diseases.