Surface plasmon resonance sensor for detection crude oil samples based sodium layer and TMDCs material in the near infrared

Abstract

This study presents the design and analysis of an optimized Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) sensor for enhancing the detection sensitivity of crude oil samples. Conventional SPR sensors, which commonly use gold or silver layers, are limited in stability and sensitivity when measuring complex substances like crude oil at near-infrared wavelengths. In this work, we develop a sodium-based SPR sensor coated with Transition Metal Dichalcogenides (TMDCs), and an oxide layer for real-time crude oil sensing. The sensor’s performance is optimized through theoretical simulation using the Transfer Matrix Method (TMM) and Finite Element Method (FEM) with Kretschmann configuration at the near-infrared wavelength (1550 nm). The performance parameters of SPR sensors, including sensitivity, detection accuracy, and signal-to-noise ratio, were measured, indicating significant improvements over traditional SPR configurations. The maximum sensitivity achieved is 169.382 deg RIU−1 with FoM of 162.867 1/RIU. Results demonstrate that the proposed sensor provides high sensitivity and reliability for detecting and analyzing real-time crude oil refractive index changes, marking a potential breakthrough in petrochemical analysis. © 2025 IOP Publishing Ltd. All rights, including for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies, are reserved.