A theoretical analysis of performance enhancement of SPR sensor based on ZnO and BaTiO₃ for NH₃ detection

Abstract

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors have attracted enormous attention due to their applications in various fields. A novel SPR-based sensor with ZnO and BaTiO3 metal oxide layers is designed for NH3 gas detection. Gold and silver are used as plasmonic materials and corresponding results are compared. The prism and plasmonic materials effects on sensor response are investigated. Moreover, thicknesses of gold and silver and metal oxide layers are optimized to obtain suitable performance parameters. sensor response is analyzed in terms of minimum reflectance, sensitivity, detection accuracy and quality parameter. Applying ZnO and BaTiO3 layers lead to 37.88% and 26.03% enhancement of quality parameter and 37.91% and 26.07% improvement of detection accuracy, and more than 3.4 times improvement of detection resolution in gold and silver-based sensors, respectively. The recommended sensor structure provides appropriate performance parameters for 1 to 200 ppm of NH3 gas that can have potential applications in toxic gas sensing.