Browsing by Subject "Biomolecular sensing"

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Open Access
Sensitivity comparison of localized plasmon resonance structures and prism coupler
(2014) Kaya, Y.; Ayas S.; Topal, A. E.; Guner, H.; Dana, A.
Plasmon resonances are widely used in biomolecular sensing and continue to be an active research field due to the rich variety of surface and measurement configurations, some of which exhibit down to single molecule level sensitivity. The resonance wavelength shift of the plasmonic structure upon binding of molecules, strongly depends, among other parameters, on how well the field of the resonant mode is confined to the binding site. Here it is shown that, by using properly designed metal-insulator-metal type resonators, improved wavelength response can be achieved with localized surface plasmon resonators (LSPRs) compared to that of the commonly used Kretschmann geometry. Using computational tools we investigate theoretically the refractive index response of several LSPR structures to a 2 nm thin film of binding molecules. LSPR resonators are shown to feature improved sensitivity over conventional Kretschmann geometry in the wavelength interrogation scheme for such a thin film. Moreover, some of the LSPR modes are quasi-omnidirectional and such angular independence (up to 30 angle of incidence) allows higher numerical apertures to be used in colorimetric imaging. Results highlight the potential of LSPRs for biomolecular sensing with high sensitivity and high spatial resolution.
Open Access
Universal infrared absorption spectroscopy using uniform electromagnetic enhancement
(American Chemical Society, 2016) Ayas S.; Bakan, G.; Ozgur E.; Celebi, K.; Dana, A.
Infrared absorption spectroscopy has greatly benefited from the electromagnetic field enhancement offered by plasmonic surfaces. However, because of the localized nature of plasmonic fields, such field enhancements are limited to nanometer-scale volumes. Here, we demonstrate that a relatively small, but spatially uniform field enhancement can yield a superior infrared detection performance compared to the plasmonic field enhancement exhibited by optimized infrared nanoantennas. A specifically designed CaF2/Al thin film surface is shown to enable observation of stronger vibrational signals from the probe material, with wider bandwidth and a deeper spatial extent of the field enhancement as compared to such plasmonic surfaces. It is demonstrated that the surface structure presented here can enable chemically specific and label-free detection of organic monolayers using surface-enhanced infrared spectroscopy, indicating a great potential in highly sensitive yet cost-effective biomolecular sensing applications.