Detection of Virus SARS-CoV-2 Using a Surface Plasmon Resonance Device Based on BiFeO3-Graphene Layers

Plasmonics https://doi.org/10.1007/s11468-023-01867-0 RESEARCH Detection of Virus SARS‑CoV‑2 Using a Surface Plasmon Resonance Device Based on B iFeO3‑Graphene Layers Sofyan A. Taya1 · Malek G. Daher1 · Abdulkarem H. M. Almawgani2 · Ayman Taher Hindi2 · Samer H. Zyoud3 · Ilhami Colak4 Received: 15 April 2023 / Accepted: 24 April 2023 © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2023 Abstract Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic outbreak is being investigated by severe respirational syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) as a global health issue. It is crucial to propose sensitive and rapid coronavirus detectors. Herein, we propose a biosensor based on surface plasmon resonance (SPRE) for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 virus. To achieve improved sensitivity, a BiFeO3 layer is inserted between a metal (Ag) thin film and a graphene layer in the proposed SPRE device so that it has the structure BK7 prism/ Ag/ BiFeO3/ graphene/ analyte. It has been demonstrated that a small variation in the refractive index of the analyte can cause a considerable shift in the resonance angle caused by the remarkable dielectric properties of the B iFeO3 layer, which include a high index of refraction and low loss. The proposed device has shown an extremely high sensitivity of 293 deg/RIU by optimizing the thicknesses of Ag, BiFeO3, and the number of graphene sheets. The proposed SPRE-based sensor is encouraging for use in various sectors of biosensing because of its high sensitivity. Keywords SARS-CoV-2 · Surface plasmon resonance · BiFeO3 · Graphene · Sensitivity Introduction A recently discovered human-transferrable virus called coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes severe respirational syndrome. Globally, hundreds of millions of SARS-CoV-2 positive cases have been found, killing millions of people. The human-transferrable SARS-CoV-2 virus outbreak was announced as a worldwide pandemic by the WHO. The SARS-CoV-2 virus typically consists of a single-stranded RNA and four important proteins: (1) nucleocapsid (N) protein, (2) membrane (M), (3) envelope (E) and (4) spike (S) glycoprotein [1]. The S-glycoprotein can be divided into two types of subunits (S1 and S2), where S1 binds * Sofyan A. Taya 1 Physics Department, Islamic University of Gaza, P.O. Box 108, Gaza, Palestine 2 Electrical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, Najran University, Najran, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia 3 Department of Mathematics and Sciences, Ajman University, Ajman, United Arab Emirates 4 Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Nisantasi University, Istanbul, Turkey with the host cell receptor human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACEZ2) and S2 is liable for membrane fusion [2]. The human heart, kidneys, lungs, and other organs all contain ACEZ2, which enables the viral spike protein to enter cells [1]. The brain, lungs, heart, and kidneys experience significant damage as a result of the viral spike protein's activation [3]. As a result, clinical research on the development of vaccines and detection methods to stop the spread of the infectious disease must focus on neutralizing the SARS-CoV-2 virus spike protein. In clinical studies, dozens of vaccines have been developed to neutralize the SARS-CoV-2 viral spike's receptor-binding domain [4]. More than 90% of SARS-CoV-2 vaccinations are effective against the virus [4, 5]. COVAX has been trying to accelerate the creation of SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, their commercial production, and their fair distribution [4]. However, SARS-CoV-2 viruses are expanding very rapidly. Novel variants of coronavirus have been discovered with altered mutations [6]. Early identification is essential for controlling the pandemic since the vaccine is not commercially available everywhere due to economic situations. To effectively monitor infected individuals for successful quarantine and prompt treatment, it is crucial to have extremely sensitive, quick-test findings, and affordable analytical techniques. The SARS-CoV-2 virus is currently detected using the real-time 13 Vol.:(0123456789) Plasmonics reverse-transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RTPCR) technology as a standard reference. Results from the RTPCR method are obtained in 1–3 days [7]. The lengthy extraction of virus ribonucleic acid (RNA) has an impact on the accuracy of detection. Zhao et al. developed a pcMNPs methodology for virus RNA extraction [8] to overcome the lengthy RNA extraction process. The sensitivity of the RTPCR technique varies between 45 and 60% for RNA extraction whereas employing pcMNPs increases the sensitivity to about 92% [7]. The COVID-19 IgG/IgM fast test kit is utilized in clinical settings to identify antibodies (IgG/IgM), with IgG becoming detectable in an affected patient blood after 3-6 days and IgM becoming detectable after 8 days [9, 10]. Although less sensitive than the RTPCR method, the SARS-CoV-2 antigen fast test kit is still applied to identify the COVID-19 virus [11, 12]. Moreover, the chest computed tomography (CT) scan is checked to corroborate the test results. If the fast test kit is not handled properly, it produces false findings [13]. Surface plasmon sensors (SPREs)-based biosensors have been proposed for future COVID-19 viral detections [14–18]. Generally, SPRE-based sensors are characterized by rapid detection, accuracy and high sensitivity [19–22]. For the past three decades, SPRE has been a widely used method to identify biomolecular interactions for clinical applications [23]. Several SPRE-based sensors have been employed in biosensing applications, including localized and compact SPRE biosensors [24]. There is no essential difference in the principle of operation of SPRE-based biosensors. Depending on light coupling, the SPRE structures can be classified into four sets: grating-based, fiber optic-based, waveguidebased and prism-based. Researchers preferred prism-based SPRE structure due to its accurate realization [25]. There are two possible setups for the prism-based SPRE sensor: (1) Kretschmann and (2) Otto. Kretschmann configuration is preferred for experimental work with superior results using the angular interrogation method due to less absorption loss [26, 27]. The stimulation of the surface plasmons (SPNs) can be applied to the SPRE sensors for producing the surface plasmon waves (SPWEs) on the metallic film by applying the attenuated total reflection method [28]. The SPWEs oppose the light energy of the plasmons, and that light energy is translated as reflected light in the total internal reflection principle. At the metal-dielectric contact, the SPWEs transpire the evanescent wave (EWE) whose intensity exponentially decays in the direction perpendicular to the interface. The resonance oscillation of the SPWEs is called the SPRE phenomenon which shows the minimum reflectivity. The reflectance profile depends on the surface refractive index (RIX). The resonance dip of the reflected (...truncated)