CAREER: Reference Compensation for Localized Surface-Plasmon Resonance Sensors

ECCS-0747810杰弗里·黑斯廷斯，肯塔基大学知识分子的优点：某些金属，包括银和金，在形成纳米结构时表现出显着改变的光学特性。 在特定条件下，称为局部表面等离子体共振（LSPR），光可以高度集中在纳米结构周围并被强烈吸收。 这种现象发生的波长对局部环境高度敏感;因此，这种结构允许在非常小的体积内进行生物和化学传感。 这项研究工作解决了阻碍LSPR传感器广泛应用于环境监测、食品安全、医疗服务以及国防和安全应用的两大挑战。 (1)目前，在存在诸如溶液折射率变化和纳米结构与溶液中其他组分之间的非特异性相互作用等干扰效应的情况下，难以检测目标化学品。 通过设计纳米结构的大小、形状和材料来支持多种表面等离子体共振，研究小组将能够区分目标化学物质的存在与这些干扰效应。 (2)通过了解如何使用集成光学芯片有效地询问这些传感器，该团队将为高度可制造的高密度传感器阵列和体内应用奠定基础。 更广泛的影响：这项研究工作将通过开发一个传感器平台产生广泛的影响，该平台将更好地服务于社会在药物发现、医疗诊断、食品质量保证和生化防御方面的需求。从教育的角度来看，该项目通过结合电磁学、微米和纳米尺度制造、化学传感和信号处理等方面，在一个固有的跨学科领域提供本科生和研究生培训。 该项目还有助于通过跨学科的纳米光子学课程的发展，进一步发展肯塔基州大学的纳米工程证书课程（NECP），并加强外展工作，以吸引和培养未来的工程师的教育基础设施。

ECCS-0747810Jeffrey Hastings, University of KentuckyIntellectual Merits: Certain metals, including silver and gold, exhibit dramatically altered optical properties when formed into nanostructures. Under specific conditions, referred to as localized surface-plasmon resonances (LSPR), light can be highly concentrated around the nanostructure and strongly absorbed. The wavelength at which this phenomenon occurs is highly sensitive to the local environment; as a result, such structures allow biological and chemical sensing in incredibly small volumes. This research effort addresses the two major challenges preventing LSPR sensors from being widely adopted for environmental monitoring, food safety, point-of-delivery medical care, and defense and security applications. (1) Currently, it is difficult to detect a target chemical in the presence of interfering effects such as solution refractive index changes and non-specific interactions between the nanostructure and other components in solutions. By engineering the size, shape, and material of the nanostructures to support multiple surface-plasmon resonances, the research team will be able to distinguish the presence of a target chemical from these interfering effects. (2) By understanding how to effectively interrogate these sensors using integrated optical chips, the team will lay the foundation for highly manufacturable high-density sensor arrays and for in-vivo applications. Broader Impacts: This research effort will have broad impact by developing a sensor platform that 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 undergraduate and graduate training in an inherently interdisciplinary field by incorporating aspects of electromagnetics, micro- and nano- scale fabrication, chemical sensing, and signal processing. The project also contributes to the educational infrastructure required to attract and train future engineers through the development of an interdisciplinary NanoPhotonics course, further development of the University of Kentucky's Nanoscale Engineering Certificate Program (NECP), and enhancement of outreach efforts to underrepresented Appalachian students.