Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensor Based on Fe 2 O 3 /Au for Alcohol Concentration Detection.

Hematite (α -Fe₂O₃) is widely used in sensor sensitization due to its excellent optical properties. In this study, we present a sensitivity-enhanced surface plasmon resonance alcohol sensor based on Fe₂O₃/Au. We describe the fabrication process of the sensor and characterize its structure. We conduct performance testing on sensors coated multiple times and use solutions with the same gradient of refractive indices as the sensing medium. Within the refractive index range of 1.3335–1.3635, the sensor that was coated twice achieved the highest sensitivity, reaching 2933.2 nm/RIU. This represents a 30.26% enhancement in sensitivity compared to a sensor with a pure gold monolayer film structure. Additionally, we demonstrated the application of this sensor in alcohol concentration detection by testing the alcohol content of common beverages, showing excellent agreement with theoretical values and highlighting the sensor's potential in food testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]