Self-Referenced SPR Sensing using Multiple Surface-Plasmon Modes

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Jeffrey T. HastingsUniversity of Kentucky0601351AbstractIntellectual Merit: Surface-plasmon resonance has become a widely used, label free technique to detect and study biological and chemical interactions. Nevertheless, a fundamental challenge remains unresolved: How does one differentiate between non-specific effects (temperature fluctuations, solution refractive index changes, non-specific binding of interferents, etc.) and detection of a target analyte? This problem currently limits the effectiveness of surface-plasmon resonance in complex biological samples and for medical, environmental, food safety, and defense applications that require field deployable sensors. This research effort addresses this challenge by developing a self-referencing sensor platform based on simultaneous coupling to multiple surface-plasmon modes. For the first time, the electromagnetic field distributions and dispersion relations of surface-plasmon waves supported by microstructures will be engineered to distinguish multiple biological and chemical processes. Combining this self-referencing approach with oriented immobilization of antibodies on the sensor surface will provide a system that selectively detects the presence of pathogenic bacteria such as Escherichia coli and Bacillus anthracis in complex solutions. Broader Impacts: The new sensor platform will better serve society's needs in drug discovery, medical diagnosis, food quality assurance, and bio-chemical defense. From an educational perspective, the project provides graduate training in an inherently interdisciplinary field while strengthening multi-disciplinary partnerships in the University of Kentucky's Center for Nanoscale Science and Engineering. The project also serves as a demonstration platform for a diversity outreach effort targeting high-school students from Kentucky's Appalachian regions and for a new Micro- and Nano-Photonics undergraduate course offered in connection with the University of Kentucky's undergraduate Nanoscale Engineering Certificate Program (NECP).