Nanoplasmonic optical biosensors

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Surface plasmon resonance sensing allows the detection of very low concentrations of a wide range of different molecular species of interest. It has important application in many fields. One example is medical diagnostics where it can be used to sense the presence of proteins that indicate that the patient has a medical condition well in advance of other symptoms being visible and thus enabling early treatment. In drug screening it can be used to rapidly identify candidate compounds (and so is of great value to the Canadian pharmaceutical industry) and in environmental sensing it may be used to detect pathogens in the public water supply. Here we propose a research program which will improve the sensitivity, specificity and practicality of surface plasmon resonance sensing. To do this we will make use of periodic optical nanostructures in order to increase the intensity of the electromagnetic fields at the surface of the sensor and hence increase sensitivity. We will combine recent advances in the analysis of isolated nanostructures with our own research into periodic nanostructures in order to obtain the maximum benefits of both. We will also incorporate quantum dots in order to increase specificity (i.e. fewer false-positive detections) and will investigate techniques to make the sensing systems better integrated and lower cost. This program will provide training for 4 PhD students and 3 Masters students in a multidisciplinary environment in which they will gain expertise in electromagnetic modeling, micro- and nanofabrication, instrumentation, biochemistry and biomedical engineering.