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Synthesis and Operation of Fluorescent-core Microcavities for Refractometric Sensing
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Surface Phonon Polaritons from Resonant Circular Microcavities on Hydroxyapatite Ceramic Surfaces for Biological
Shuting Ma1, Hidehiko Yoda2, Yan Ding1
1Department of Bioengineering, The University of Tokyo, 1-3-7 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan.
ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces
|December 23, 2025
Summary
Surface phonon polaritons (SPhPs) were excited on hydroxyapatite (HAp) ceramics using gold microholes. These SPhPs show potential for sensitive biological sensing applications, offering an alternative to plasmonics.
Area of Science:
- Photonics and Materials Science
- Investigating light-matter interactions at the nanoscale
Background:
- Surface phonon polaritons (SPhPs) offer subdiffractional light confinement, an alternative to plasmonics.
- Hydroxyapatite (HAp) ceramics are biocompatible but less explored for SPhP applications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To demonstrate and characterize SPhPs on HAp ceramics.
- To explore their potential for biological sensing applications.
Main Methods:
- Excitation of SPhPs using gold microhole arrays on HAp.
- Micro-infrared spectroscopy and theoretical analysis.
- Sensitivity evaluation using Al2O3 coatings and peptide molecule attachment.
Main Results:
- Successful excitation of SPhPs on HAp ceramics with narrow reflectance dips.
- SPhPs exhibited quality factors comparable to conventional materials.
- Demonstrated surface-enhanced IR absorption (SEIRA) responses upon peptide molecule attachment.
Conclusions:
- HAp ceramics support low-loss SPhPs, functioning similarly to polar crystals.
- SPhPs on HAp ceramics show promise for novel biological sensing platforms.
- This work expands the utility of SPhPs in sensing and materials science.
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