Novel gold-capped nanopillars imprinted on a polymer film for highly sensitive plasmonic biosensing

Herein, a nanoporous alumina was fabricated to use as a mold in transforming nanopillar structures onto a thin film polymer by thermal nanoimprint lithography (NIL). The size of the pores was successfully controlled by varying the applied voltages and etching time. These nanoporous structures were transferred to the Cyclo-olefin polymer (COP) film surface from the porous mold by a thermal nanoimprinting process. A plasmonic substrate was fabricated by sputtering a thin layer of gold onto this nanopillar polymer structure, and the refractive index response in a variety of media was evaluated. Finally, the biosensing capacity of this novel plasmonic substrate was verified by analysis of Human immunoglobulin and achieved a minimum detection limit of 1.0 ng/mL. With the advantages of mass production with consistent reproducibility stemming from the nanoimprint fabrication process, our gold-capped polymeric pillars are ready for the transition from academic interest into commercialization systems for practical use in diagnostic applications.