Nanoplasmonic biosensing with on-chip electrical detection.

Area of Science:

• Nanotechnology
• Plasmonics
• Biosensing

Background:

• Nanoplasmonic devices offer high sensitivity for detecting local refractive index changes.
• Integrating nanoplasmonics with photoactive materials enables novel sensing modalities.
• Electrical detection of plasmonic properties provides a direct readout.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a nanoplasmonic biosensor chip with integrated electrical detection.
• To demonstrate the correlation between optical and electrical properties of the sensor.
• To show real-time monitoring of biorecognition reactions using the developed sensor.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of gold nanodisks (110 nm diameter, 20 nm height) on silicon solar cells via a parallel method.
• Investigation of nanoplasmonic properties using optical and electrical measurements.
• Utilizing changes in photocurrent output from nanoplasmonic solar cells to detect refractive index variations.

Main Results:

• Excellent agreement between optical and electrical characterization of the nanoplasmonic sensor chip.
• Demonstrated sensitivity of nanoplasmonic properties to local refractive index changes.
• Successful real-time monitoring of a specific biorecognition reaction using photocurrent output.

Conclusions:

• The nanoplasmonic biosensor chip with integrated electrical detection is a viable platform for sensitive biosensing.
• The device leverages the interplay between nanoplasmonics and photoactive materials for signal transduction.
• This technology enables label-free, real-time monitoring of biological events.