SBIR Phase I:LONG-WAVE INFRARED PLASMONIC BIOSENSOR

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project seeks to enhance the capability of an instrument for identifying and quantifying bio-molecules, cells, microbes, and their interactions. The goal of the project is to demonstrate the feasibility of a Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) biosensor that, for the first time, can operate in an extended wavelength domain, where biological analytes are strongly differentiated by their absorption spectra and consequential variation of refractive index. In comparison with current commercial systems, this innovation, if successful, will provide enhanced sensitivity and species selectivity. Large optical changes in biological analytes will be observed as they bind reversibly to species-selective biomolecular recognition elements attached to the sensor surface. The broader/commercial impact of this project is to enrich and extend the proven SPR biosensor technology by providing access to a new and important part of the electromagnetic spectrum. The SPR biosensor market is dominated systems that operate entirely in the visible - near infrared spectral region with relatively little spectral differentiation of chemical species. This project is intended to result in a SPR Biosensor with significant improvements that will be of value in life science, electro-analysis, drug discovery, food quality and safety, environmental science, gas-and liquid-phase chemicals, forensics, defense, and security. Of particular value will be its novel ability to delineate ultra-fast kinetic interactions such as those from DNA sequencing, protein/protein interaction, and ligand/receptor recognition. These improvements over currently available chemical and biosensor technologies are expected to enable significant expansion of the SPR biosensing market.