Systems and methods for localized surface plasmon resonance sensing

US8879065B1 · kind B1 · utility

Assignee

• The Board of Trustees of the University of Alabama, for and on behalf of the University of Alabama in Huntsville · US

Inventors

• Yongbin Lin · Huntsville, US
• Robert Lindquist · Madison, US
• Yang Zou · Dallas, US

Key dates

• Filing date: May 10, 2011
• Grant date: Nov 4, 2014
• Expiry date: Aug 15, 2031

Classification

• Technology area (CPC G): Physics
• CPC primary: G01N21/554
• WIPO field: Measurement
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure generally pertain to systems and methods for localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) sensing. A system in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure comprises an optical fiber having a metallic dot array on a tip of the optical fiber, a light source coupled to the optical fiber via a light coupler, and a spectrometer coupled to the optical fiber via the coupler. The light source is configured to transmit light within a range of wavelengths along the optical fiber. When the light reaches the dot array, the light excites surface plasmons of the dot array and causes the surface plasmons of the dots to resonate. The dots are chemically functionalized to have a specific affinity for a particular substance, and the resonance frequency of the dots changes when the substance is present thereby changing an absorption peak of the light. The light is reflected back through the optical fiber to the spectrometer, and the spectrometer detects a parameter indicative of a change in the absorption peak. Presence of the particular substance is determined based upon the change in the absorption peak.