Sensitivity enhancement based on application of multi-pass interferometry in phase-sensitive surface plasmon resonance biosensor

A novel design of multi-pass surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor with differential phase interrogation based on multi-pass interferometry is presented. This new configuration provides an intrinsic phase amplification effect of over twofold by placing the SPR sensor head in a signal arm of the interferometer so that the interrogating optical beam will traverse the sensor surface infinite number of times. Experimental interferometers based on the Michelson and Fabry–Perot configurations have been employed to experimentally verify this amplification effect when they were compared with Mach–Zehnder configuration, results obtained from salt–water mixtures, antibody–antigen, and protein–DNA binding reaction confirmed the expected phase measurement enhancement, thus leading to the possibility of direct detection of small sized bio-molecules using SPR.     

Sensitivity enhancement of surface plasmon resonance sensor using continuous film metallic gratings

A surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor based on continuous film metallic gratings is numerically investigated for enhance sensitivity. The results calculated by rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA) present that interplays between localized surface plasmons and surface plasmons polaritons contribute to sensitivity enhancement. The sensitivity enhancement factor (SEF), which represents the influence of metallic grating, increased as the grating period decreased. In addition, several reflection dips can be achieved as the period of metallic grating increased. By double-dips method, the sensitivity SPR sensor based on continuous film grating-based is improved into 153.23°/RIU, which is more sensitive than conventional thin film-based SPR sensor in the same condition. The SPR sensor based on continuous film metallic gratings exhibits good linearity.     

Sensitivity enhancement of surface plasmon resonance sensors through planar metallic film closely coupled to nanogratings

We investigate the sensitivity enhancement of surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors through planar metallic film closely coupled to nanogratings.     

Resolution enhancement of a surface immersion microscope near the plasmon resonance

Resolution of a surface immersion microscope has been studied as a function of surface-plasmon-polariton frequency. Enhancement of resolution near the surface-plasmon resonance has been observed. This effect may potentially be used in direct imaging of biological samples in liquid ambient.     

Figure-of-merit enhancement of surface plasmon resonance sensors in the spectral interrogation

We show that adding a thin dielectric layer with high refractive index on top of the metallic layer in surface plasmon resonance sensors in the Kretschmann-Raether configuration in the spectral mode causes a redshift of the resonance wavelength, narrowing of the resonance dip, and an enhancement to the spectral sensitivity. Surprisingly, together with the sensitivity enhancement, the dip becomes much narrower and the figure of merit is considerably improved, particularly in the IR range.     

表面等离激元的聚焦与波导增强

近年来,表面等离激元学(plasmonics)已经形成一个新的学科热点.电子在金属与介质界面的集体振荡行为形成一种元激发——表面等离激元（surface plasomon polariton,SPP）.由于其具有特殊的耦合与传播性质,与SPP相关的器件设计与应用成为目前纳米光子学领域的国际前沿研究方向.文章介绍了利用微纳加工技术制备的SPP纳米结构,以及利用近场光学表征手段对SPP聚焦、波导、共振增强现象研究的进展.     

表面等离激元的聚焦与波导增强

近年来,表面等离激元学（plasmonics）已经形成一个新的学科热点.电子在金属与介质界面的集体振荡行为形成一种元激发——表面等离激元（surface plasomon polariton,SPP）.由于其具有特殊的耦合与传播性质,与SPP相关的器件设计与应用成为目前纳米光子学领域的国际前沿研究方向.文章介绍了利用微...     

Sensitivity improvement of aluminum-based far-ultraviolet nearly guided-wave surface plasmon resonance sensor

An aluminum (Al) based nearly guided-wave surface plasmon resonance (NGWSPR) sensor is investigated in the far-ultraviolet (FUV) region. By simultaneously optimizing the thickness of Al and dielectric films, the sensitivity of the optimized Al-based FUV-NGWSPR sensor increases from 183°/RIU to 309°/RIU, and its figure of merit rises from 26.47 RIU^-1 to 32.59 RIU^-1 when the refractive index of dielectric increases from 2 to 5. Compared with a traditional FUV-SPR sensor without dielectric, the optimized FUV-NGWSPR sensor can realize simultaneous improvement of sensitivity and figure of merit. In addition, the FUV-NGWSPR sensor with realistic materials (diamond, Ta₂O₅, and GaN) is also investigated, and 137.84%, 52.70%, and 41.89% sensitivity improvements are achieved respectively. This work proposes a method for performance improvement of FUV-SPR sensors by exciting nearly guided-wave, and could be helpful for the high-performance SPR sensor in the short-wavelength region.     

Secondary plasmon resonance in graphene nanostructures

The plasmon characteristics of two graphene nanostructures are studied using time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). The absorption spectrum has two main bands, which result from π and σ + π plasmon resonances. At low energies, the Fourier transform of the induced charge density maps exhibits anomalous behavior, with a π phase change in the charge density maps in the plane of the graphene and those in the plane 0.3 ? from the graphene. The charge density fluctuations close to the plane of the graphene are much smaller than those above and beneath the graphene plane. However, this phenomenon disappears at higher energies. By analyzing the electronic properties, we may conclude that the restoring force for the plasmon in the plane of the graphene does not result from fixed positive ions, but rather the Coulomb interactions with the plasmonic oscillations away from the plane of the graphene, which extend in the surface-normal direction. The collective oscillation in the graphene plane results in a forced vibration. Accordingly, the low-energy plasmon in the graphene can be split into two components: a normal component, which corresponds to direct feedback of the external perturbation, and a secondary component, which corresponds to feedback of the Coulombic interaction with the normal component.     

Highly sensitive differential phase-sensitive surface plasmon resonance biosensor based on the Mach-Zehnder configuration

A high-sensitivity surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor based on the Mach-Zehnder interferometer design is presented. The novel feature of the new design is the use of a Wollaston prism through which the phase quantities of the p and s polarizations are interrogated simultaneously. Since SPR affects only the p polarization, the signal due to the s polarization can be used as the reference. Consequently, the differential phase between the two polarizations allows us to eliminate all common-path phase noise while keeping the phase change caused by the SPR effect. Experimental results obtained from glycerin-water mixtures indicate that the sensitivity limit of our scheme is 5.5 x 10(-8) refractive-index units per 0.01 degrees phase change. To our knowledge, this is a significant improvement over previously obtained results when gold was used as the sensor surface. Such an improvement in the sensitivity limit should allow SPR biosensors to become a possible replacement for conventional biosensing techniques based on fluorescence. Monitoring of the bovine serum albumin (BSA) binding reaction with BSA antibodies is also demonstrated.     

金属表面等离体子振荡

深入浅出地分析了金属表面等离体子振荡形成的机理，利用拉普拉斯方程得到了半无限金属、金属薄膜和球状纳米金属颗粒的表面等离体子振荡频率。     

Analysis of blood proteins on protein arrays with a spectral surface plasmon resonance biosensor

We investigated whether blood proteins can be analyzed on protein arrays with a spectral surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensor. We modified gold arrays with a mixture of mercaptoundecanoic acid and mercaptohexanol, and immobilized blood proteins-hemoglobin (Hb) and haptoglobin (Hp), or their antibodies. We analyzed interactions of Hb with Hp on protein arrays by measuring the shift of resonance wavelength, and a significant interaction was observed when Hp was used as a ligand. Then, we fabricated antibody arrays with antibodies against Hb and Hp, and analyzed binding of blood proteins onto the arrays. Anti-Hb showed a specific interaction with Hb on the antibody arrays. Interaction of anti-Hp with Hp was specific when Hp was used as capture molecules. The shift of resonance wavelength caused by the interaction of blood proteins was explained by changes of refractive index on the gold surfaces of protein arrays. The present work suggests that spectral SPR biosensors can be used as a useful tool for the analysis of blood proteins on protein arrays.     

Highly sensitive selectively coated D-shape photonic crystal fibers for surface plasmon resonance sensing

We propose a design for a high sensitivity plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor based on photonic crystal fiber (PCF) and analyze the sensor using finite element software (FEM). By introducing a D-shape hole instead of a circular hole in the first ring of the photonic crystal fiber, which increases the coupling effect and proficient infiltration of the sensing, resulting in enhance the performance of the sensor due to the flat structure of the D-shape hole and the homogeneous metal coating facility. We study the influence of the parameters of the D-shape hole on the sensing performance and analyze the sensor performance based on the wavelength and amplitude sensitivity. The results show that the proposed sensor is capable of detecting analyte refractive index ranging from 1.30 to 1.42, and the maximum sensitivities of 14,600 nm/RIU and 1475 RIU^?1 can be achieved in this sensing range, respectively. The largest sensor resolutions for wavelength and amplitude sensing are $6.84\times {10}^{?6}$ and $6.78\times {10}^{?6}\text{ RIU}$, and the maximum figure of merits (FOM) of the proposed sensor being 618.     

Influence of groove depth and surface profile on fluorescence enhancement by grating-coupled surface plasmon resonance

The fluorescence intensity of a sample placed on a metal grating pattern is enhanced due to excitation by the electric field of the grating-coupled surface plasmon resonance (GC-SPR). The dependence of the enhancement on groove depth and surface profile was studied with the aim of improving the sensitivity of fluorescence detection. The enhancement was found to depend on the groove depth, with intensity most enhanced on grating substrate of about 20 nm depth, which produced an intensity about 30 times greater than that on a flat borosilicate glass substrate. Rigorous coupled wave analysis calculation showed that the shape of the groove influenced GC-SPR, suggesting that controlling not only the depth but also the shape of the grating surface profile can be an important factor in improving the sensitivity of detection by fluorescence microscopy.     

Resolution enhancement of random adsorbed single-molecule localization based on surface plasmon resonance illumination

Single-molecule localization (SML) is a powerful tool to overcome the diffraction limit in optical imaging, because the fluorescence emitted by single molecules can be observed with nanometer accuracy when the optical background and associated noise are made sufficiently small. Random adsorbed SML has been successfully demonstrated for superresolution imaging on metal surfaces. To optimize the random adsorbed SML, we developed a new illumination method based on surface plasmon resonance (SPR). The enhancement of the fluorescence signal and the reduction of background noise were achieved simultaneously. A high localization resolution of 15?nm was demonstrated with this new SPR illumination system.     

Design of a surface plasmon resonance biosensor based on photonic crystal fiber with elliptical holes

In this paper, a photonic-crystal fiber based plasmonic biosensor in which gold is used as the plasmonic material is proposed. The introduced sensor is designed in such a way that the plasmonic metal layer and the sensing layer are placed outside the fiber structure so that the fabrication process and the numerical analysis has become comparatively much easier. The proposed plasmonic biosensor properties are calculated numerically using the finite element method. Amongst the parameters affecting the performance of the biosensor are the thickness of the gold layer and the diameter of the central cavity. By applying the wavelength interrogation method, the maximum sensitivity and the resolution of the proposed biosensor are computed as 5723.5 nm/RIU and 1.74?×?10^?5 RIU, respectively. The proposed structure with the above properties is suitable for detecting biological molecules, organic chemicals and analytes.     

基于导模共振效应提高石墨烯表面等离子体的局域特性

本文构建了一种包含石墨烯和亚波长光栅的复合结构, 借助衍射光栅的导模共振效应, 在石墨烯表面激发高局域性表面等离子体激元, 研究了石墨烯与光栅结构对表面等离子体激元局域特性的影响规律, 并借助基于有限元法的COMSOL软件, 分析了缓冲层厚度、光栅周期、载流子迁移率和费米能级对石墨烯的表面电场、品质因子Q和有效模式面积S_eff的影响. 结果表明, 石墨烯表面等离子体激元的局域性在特定的参数点获得显著提高: 当μ = 0.7 m²/(V·s)时, 品质因子达到最大值Q_max = 1793; 当p = 235 nm或E_F = 0.72 eV时, 表面电场达到了入射光的3000倍以上. 强烈的局域性导致强烈 的光-物质相互作用, 因而本文提出的复合结构可实现高灵敏度传感器和高效率的非线性光学设备, 极大地扩展了石墨烯在纳米光学领域中的应用.     

Multipole surface plasmon resonance of an aluminium surface

The surface photoelectric effect and the surface plasmon resonances appear when a p/transverse magnetic polarized laser hits a gas-solid interface. We model this effect in the long wave length (LWL) domain (λ_vac > 10 nm, ?ω < 124 eV) by combining the Ampère-Maxwell equation, written in classical approximation, with the material equation for the susceptibility. The resulting model, called the vector potential from the electron density (VPED), calculates the susceptibility as a product of the bulk susceptibility and the electron density of the actual system. The bulk susceptibility is a sum of the bound electron scalar susceptibility taken from the experiment and of the conduction electron non-local isotropic susceptibility tensor in a jellium metal (Lindhard, 1954 [1]). The electron density is the square of the wave function solution of the Schrödinger equation. The analysis of observables, the reflectance R and the photoelectron yield Y as well as the induced charge density permits to identify and characterize the multipole surface plasmon resonance of Al(111) appearing at ω_m ∼ 0.8ω_p or 11-12 eV.     

Surface plasmon resonance biosensor modified with multilayer silver nanoparticles films

We alternately deposited negatively charged Ag-(3-mercaptopropionic acid) (Ag-MPA) sol and positively charged poly-(diallyldimethylammonium) (PDDA) on gold substrate modified with 4-aminothiophenol (4-ATP), through electrostatic layer-by-layer (LBL) self-assembly. We characterized the prepared three-dimensional Ag/PDDA multilayer films by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and atomic force microscope (AFM). The thickness of each film in the multilayer films, the deposition effect of Ag nanoparticles, and the processing of DNA adsorption are characterized by SPR. AFM characterization shows that DNA/3(PDDA/Ag)/4-ATP composite is uniformly and firmly distributed on the surface of gold films. Compared with other sensors, gentamicin could be highly sensitively measured by DNA/3(PDDA/Ag)/4-ATP/Au sensor. There is a good linear relationship in the concentration range of 5 × 10⁻⁸ to 1 × 10⁻⁴ mol/L. The linear equation is found to be Δθ_SPR = 1.3521 × 10⁻⁵c + 0.08641 (the correlation coefficient is 0.9983) with detection limit of 1 × 10⁻⁹ mol/L. Since such LBL assembly film is simple to prepare, the work described here provides an effective method for studying small molecule drugs on SPR.     

Digital resolution enhancement in surface plasmon microscopy

The use of photonic crystal and negative refractive index materials is known to improve the resolution of optical microscopy and lithography devices down to the 80 nm level. Here we demonstrate that utilization of well-known digital image recovery techniques allows us to further improve the resolution of optical microscopy down to the 30 nm level. Our microscope is based on a flat dielectric mirror deposited onto an array of nanoholes in thin gold film. This two-dimensional photonic crystal mirror may have either a positive or negative effective refractive index as perceived by surface plasmon polartions in the visible frequency range. The optical images formed by the mirror are enhanced using simple digital filters. PACS 73.20.Mf; 42.70.Qs; 07.60.Pb