This theoretical investigation proposes the preliminary stage detection of cancer cells using a prism-based surface plasmon resonance biosensor. The surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor is label-free and rapid; it supports real-time investigations, including greater sensitivity, and it has an enormous possibility for detecting different forms of cancer. The refractive index alteration of cancer cells is 1.360–1.401. The performance of the SPR sensor has been analyzed. The different types of cancer cells for skin, cervical, blood, adrenal, and breast (type I and II) have been analyzed, and sensitivities of 292, 384, 229, 242, 254, and 261 (degree/RIU) have been achieved, respectively. A high figure of merit of 115.2 R I U − 1 has been achieved for HeLa cells and achieved detection accuracy of 0.32 d e g − 1 for basal cells.

This numerical work proposes two novel designs of long‐range surface plasmon resonance sensors (LRSPR) using two different coupling prisms. The performance analysis of the proposed sensor has been investigated using the performance parameters like quality factor (Q), detection accuracy (DA), sensitivity (S), and full‐width half maximum (FWHM). The transfer matrix method (TMM) has been employed to compute reflectance. The role of the basic recognition element (BRE) has been played by the popular two‐dimensional (2D) material, black phosphorus (BP), due to its many optoelectrical features. The maximum obtained values for Q, DA, and S are 3333.25 (1/RIU), 250 (degree⁻¹), and 13.33333 degree/RIU for 2S2G coupled sensor design and 3055.5 (1/RIU), 83.33 (degree⁻¹), and 36.66667 degree/RIU for BK7 coupled sensor design. The operating wavelength of 633 nm, followed by the principle of attenuated total reflection (ATR), has been employed to carry out the theoretical investigation.

A hybrid Kretschmann configuration-based surface plasmon resonance biosensor is investigated to detect formalin in water was proposed. The modification is done in the conventional sensor by adding the indium phosphide (InP) and black phosphorus (BP) material layer. The silver (Ag) metal thickness is 45 nm, the optimized thickness of the metal for the proposed design. The thickness of the InP and BP materials 2 and 0.34 nm are considered. For three InP layers and one BP layer, the maximum sensitivity of 250.2 deg / RIU is achieved. The BP layer is used to improve the biorecognition ability of the sensor. The performance of the sensor is analyzed using the angular interrogation method. The proposed sensor is investigated for the aqueous sensing medium. The InP is an air-stable semiconductor material and has applications in chemical, medical, and biological fields.