Magnesium fluoride and black phosphorus mediated long-range surface plasmon resonance biosensor for enhanced sensing of SARS-CoV-2 virus

In the scientific community, the detection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus is a major concern. Numerous sensors based on chemical and electrochemical techniques have been developed for detection of viruses. The developed sensor still faces the difficulty of achieving real-time analysis, early virus identification, and high performance. The present study aims to propose an analytical investigation for the development of a long-range surface plasmon resonance (LRSPR) sensor, with the objective of addressing the issues. In this detailed study Magnesium fluoride and Black Phosphorus layers have been used including sandwiched metal layer to achieve the targeted sensitivity. Theoretically, SARS-CoV-2 virus has been detected with high level of imaging sensitivity of 19.584 × 10³ /RIU, and a figure of merit (FoM) of 672 RIU⁻¹. Based on the achieved sensitivity, copper metal layer has been proved to be most appropriate layer of Kretschmann configuration. Kretschmann configuration is used in this study due to its possibility of physical realization. To complete the study, thicknesses of all layers have also been optimized to achieve high sensitivity using MATLAB simulations. The performance of the proposed sensor is also compared with the existing work and found most appropriate for the said application.