Surface plasmon resonance devices typically rely on the use of gold-coated surfaces, but the use of more abundant metals is desirable for the long-term development of plasmonic biochips. As a substitute for gold, thin copper films have been deposited on glass coverslips by thermal evaporation. As expected, these films immersed in a water solution initially exhibit an intense plasmonic resonance comparable to gold. However, without protection, an angle-resolved optical analysis shows a rapid degradation of the copper, characterized by a continuous angular shift of the plasmonic resonance curve. We show that copper films protected with a thin layer of aluminum oxide of a few nanometers can limit the oxidation rate for a sufficient time to perform some standard measurements. As the process is simple and compatible with the current biochip production technique, such an approach could pave the way for the production of alternative and more sustainable biochips.
