Photothermal Spectro-Microscopy as Benchmark for Optoplasmonic Bio-Detection Assays

Optoplasmonic bio-detection assays commonly probe the response of plasmonic nanostructures to changes in their dielectric environment. The accurate detection of nanoscale entities such as virus particles, micelles and proteins requires optimization of multiple experimental parameters. Performing such optimization directly via analyte recognition is often not desirable or feasible, especially if the nanostructures exhibit limited numbers of analyte binding sites and if binding is irreversible. Here we introduce photothermal spectro-microscopy as a benchmarking tool for the characterization and optimization of optoplasmonic detection assays.