Abstract
Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors using noble metals like gold face critical limitations in cost, thermal stability, and spectral tunability, despite their strong plasmonic response. This study demonstrates that refractory metal nitrides-titanium nitride (TiN) and zirconium nitride (ZrN) achieve competitive sensing performance, while addressing these drawbacks. Employing the transfer matrix method in a Kretschmann prism coupling configuration, we systematically evaluate TiN and ZrN against gold across key metrics, such as surface plasmon quality factor, penetration depth, and propagation length. Results reveal that metal nitride-based SPR sensors achieve sensitivity up to 155.3 deg/RIU and detection accuracy of 0.077 deg–1, with figures of merit (FOM) reaching 11 RIU–1. While Au exhibits higher sensitivity (∼167.4 deg/RIU) and FOM (∼0.107 RIU–1), the performance of metal nitrides-based sensors remain sufficient for practical applications. The current research puts metal nitrides as revolutionary materials in areas where conventional noble metals are inadequate, such as industrial process monitoring, integrated photonic circuits, and next-generation SPR devices in harsh environments.
First Page
87
Last Page
101
Recommended Citation
AL-Haraidh, Wafa Said and Ahmed, Moustafa
(2025)
"Transition Metal Nitrides as High-Performance, Cost-Effective Alternatives to Noble Metals in Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensing,"
The Journal of King Abdulaziz University: Science: Vol. 35:
Iss.
2, Article 6.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.64064/1658-4252.1011
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
