Eur. Phys. J. Plus (2022) 137: 581
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/s13360-022-02801-9

Regular Article

Highly sensitive photonic crystal fiber-based plasmonic biosensor with improved malaria detection application

Faculty of Physics, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran

^a bahar.meshginqalam@tabrizu.ac.ir

Received: 12 February 2022
Accepted: 4 May 2022
Published online: 13 May 2022

Abstract

A highly sensitive solid-core photonic crystal fiber sensor with gold nanowires is suggested for analyte range of 1.36–1.40 which is appropriate for biosensing applications. Particular structural design in terms of holes arrangement and their size together with applying gold nanowires instead of coating metal layer, make it possible to use the proposed sensor structure for malaria diagnosis. The biosensor performance is analyzed using finite element method (FEM) for x and y polarizations. In order to early treatment and reducing fatality cause by malaria parasites, the effect of three different stages (ring, trophozoite and schizont phases) of malaria infection on sensor response is studied. Although both of the polarizations possess suitable sensing features, wavelength sensitivities are higher for x-polarized mode, whereas for y-polarized mode, amplitude sensitivities are greater. The maximum wavelength sensitivities of 38,571 and 31,429 $\mathrm{nm}/\mathrm{RIU}$ and figure of merit (FOM) values as 438.41 and 522.25 ${\mathrm{RIU}}^{-1}$ are calculated for the ring phase red blood cells for x and y polarizations, respectively. Precise holes arrangement and employing gold nanowires remarkably enhance the biosensor performance and show 170%, 163% and 152% wavelength sensitivity enhancement (for three phases) when compare with published data. Due to its promising sensing performance (high sensitivity and resolution together with appropriate figure of merit values), the proposed biosensor is proper for the early diagnosis of malaria disease.