This paper reviews Kretschmann-based SPR sensor utilizing ZnO thin films and nanostructures for performance enhancement. The advancement in surface plasmon resonance technology relies on low-cost, high sensitivity and high selectivity sensor. Metal oxide has been incorporated in SPR sensor to be used for detection of biological and chemical compounds. ZnO as one of the metal oxides is an attractive material due to its unique physical and optical properties. Numerous techniques for fabrication and characterization of ZnO on SPR gold substrate have been studied. The mechanism for gas and biomolecules detection depends on their interaction with ZnO surface, which is mainly attributed to the high isoelectric point of ZnO. There are several types of ZnO nanostructures which have been employed for SPR application based on the Kretschmann configuration. In future, the thin film and nanostructures of ZnO have potential applications for miniature design, robust, high sensitivity, and low-cost portable type of SPR biosensor to be used for on-site testing in real-time and label-free manner.

This work investigates the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) response of 50-nm thick nano-laminated gold film using Kretschmann-based biosensing for detection of urea and creatinine in solution of various concentrations (non-enzymatic samples). Comparison was made with the presence of urease and creatininase enzymes in the urea and creatinine solutions (enzymatic samples), respectively. Angular interrogation technique was applied using optical wavelengths of 670 nm and 785 nm. The biosensor detects the presence of urea and creatinine at concentrations ranging from 50–800 mM for urea samples and 10–200 mM for creatinine samples. The purpose of studying the enzymatic sample was mainly to enhance the sensitivity of the sensor towards urea and creatinine in the samples. Upon exposure to 670 nm optical wavelength, the sensitivity of 1.4°/M was detected in non-enzymatic urea samples and 4°/M in non-enzymatic creatinine samples. On the other hand, sensor sensitivity as high as 16.2°/M in urea-urease samples and 10°/M in creatinine-creatininase samples was detected. The enhanced sensitivity possibly attributed to the increase in refractive index of analyte sensing layer due to urea-urease and creatinine-creatininase coupling activity. This work has successfully proved the design and demonstrated a proof-of-concept experiment using a low-cost and easy fabrication of Kretschmann based nano-laminated gold film SPR biosensor for detection of urea and creatinine using urease and creatininase enzymes.

This paper focuses on the recent advances on radiolysis-assisted shape-controlled synthesis of noble metal nanostructures. The techniques and protocols for producing desirable shapes of noble metal nanoparticles are discussed through introducing the critical parameters which can influence the nucleation and growth mechanisms. Nucleation rate plays a vital role on the crystallinity of seeds while growth rate of different seeds’ facets determines the final shape of resultant nanoparticles. Nucleation and growth rate both can be altered with factors such as absorbed dose, capping agents, and experimental environment condition to control the final shape. Remarkable physical and chemical properties of synthesized noble metal nanoparticles by controlled morphology have been systematically evaluated to fully explore their applications.

The crystal structure, electron charge density, band structure, density of states, and optical properties of pure and strontium (Sr)-doped β-Ga₂O₃ were studied using the first-principles calculation based on the density functional theory (DFT) within the generalized-gradient approximation (GGA) with the Perdew–Burke–Ernzerhof (PBE). The reason for choosing strontium as a dopant is due to its p-type doping behavior, which is expected to boost the material’s electrical and optical properties and maximize the devices’ efficiency. The structural parameter for pure β-Ga₂O₃ crystal structure is in the monoclinic space group (C2/m), which shows good agreement with the previous studies from experimental work. Bandgap energy from both pure and Sr-doped β-Ga₂O₃ is lower than the experimental bandgap value due to the limitation of DFT, which will ignore the calculation of exchange-correlation potential. To counterbalance the current incompatibilities, the better way to complete the theoretical calculations is to refine the theoretical predictions using the scissor operator’s working principle, according to literature published in the past and present. Therefore, the scissor operator was used to overcome the limitation of DFT. The density of states (DOS) shows the hybridization state of Ga 3d, O 2p, and Sr 5s orbital. The bonding population analysis exhibits the bonding characteristics for both pure and Sr-doped β-Ga₂O₃. The calculated optical properties for the absorption coefficient in Sr doping causes red-shift of the absorption spectrum, thus, strengthening visible light absorption. The reflectivity, refractive index, dielectric function, and loss function were obtained to understand further this novel work on Sr-doped β-Ga₂O₃ from the first-principles calculation.

A photodetector converts optical signals to detectable electrical signals. Lately, self-powered photodetectors have been widely studied because of their advantages in device miniaturization and low power consumption, which make them preferable in various applications, especially those related to green technology and flexible electronics. Since self-powered photodetectors do not have an external power supply at zero bias, it is important to ensure that the built-in potential in the device produces a sufficiently thick depletion region that efficiently sweeps the carriers across the junction, resulting in detectable electrical signals even at very low-optical power signals. Therefore, two-dimensional (2D) materials are explored as an alternative to silicon-based active regions in the photodetector. In addition, plasmonic effects coupled with self-powered photodetectors will further enhance light absorption and scattering, which contribute to the improvement of the device’s photocurrent generation. Hence, this review focuses on the employment of 2D materials such as graphene and molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) with the insertion of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) and plasmonic nanoparticles. All these approaches have shown performance improvement of photodetectors for self-powering applications. A comprehensive analysis encompassing 2D material characterization, theoretical and numerical modelling, device physics, fabrication and characterization of photodetectors with graphene/MoS₂ and graphene/h-BN/MoS₂ heterostructures with plasmonic effect is presented with potential leads to new research opportunities.