SBIR Phase I: High sensitivity nanoplasmonic biosensors

This SBIR Phase I research project will demonstrate an opto-fluidic chip-scale bio-sensor system for label-free, high-throughput, real-time monitoring and detection of dynamics of multitude of biochemical reactions in small volumes and at low cost. Numerous applications urge development of new biological sensors that provide high-sensitivity and resolution to enable detection of single or small number of molecules and high-throughput enabled by large numbers of parallel testing channels to increase test variation spectrum and reduce false alarms. The proposed approach significantly enhances the biosensor sensitivity and resolution by utilizing the results of research on novel polarization sensitive excitation and detection of surface plasmon polariton resonance in metal films perforated by 2D nanohole arrays made of optimized metal-dielectric composite nanostructure. This bio-sensor system will have direct technological and commercial impact because it provides unique performance characteristics (e. g., label-free, high throughput screening, high-sensitivity) at low cost. The proposed bio-sensor system will also impact detection of bio-chemical agents in military, homeland security, agriculture, and environment monitoring applications. This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).