Numerical analysis and detection of cancer cells using a dual-core gold coated plasmonic biosensor

Abstract

In this research, a simple dual-core photonic crystal fiber (PCF) that leverages surface plasmon resonance (SPR) to operate as a bio-sensor in the visible to near-infrared range is proposed. An external analyte channel is constructed by putting a gold plasmonic metal layer over the fiber sensor. A numerical investigation employing the wavelength interrogation approach reveals that the maximal wavelength and amplitude sensitivity are 22000 nm/RIU and 1561.4 RIU-1, respectively. The high wavelength resolution for this suggested sensor is 4.54 × 10−6 RIU, and that suggests a high detection range. The proposed sensor is designed for the detection of any molecules from the RI range 1.33 to 1.42, and it can detect six different types of cancerous cells (the refractive index of different cancerous cells varied from 1.380 to 1.401) in this range. According to the obtained numerical results, MCF-7 cells exhibit the highest wavelength sensitivity of 6428.6 nm/RIU and amplitude sensitivity of 766.361 RIU-1. Furthermore, the sensor will be able to detect different viruses, proteins, DNA/RNA strands, and other things in this sensing range. This sensor offered the potential to detect biochemical solutions and biological samples due to its high sensitivity and simple shape.