CAREER: Single element nanophotonic force transducers using subwavelength optical waveguides

该计划的目标是揭示一种新型单元件力传感平台，该平台基于嵌入亚波长光波导急剧衰减消逝场中的力敏等离子体涂层。通过经由可压缩聚合物涂层将诸如金纳米颗粒的等离子体材料连接到光波导，可以制造高度灵敏的力传感器。换能器通过利用介电-等离子体激元耦合效应来工作，以在倏逝场中等离子体激元材料的位置上提供亚纳米光学反馈。通过利用聚合物涂层的尺寸、可调弹性特性和在光纤中引导的波长，可以配置高度通用的力检测方案，其具有亚皮牛顿力灵敏度，同时是独立的和移动的。知识的优点是，发现新的光学方法能够量化的力量在纳米尺度将改变我们的能力，以监测细胞力学，确定键形成和断裂的动力学，优化药物设计参数，测量材料的弹性模量，和图像表面无法访问目前的扫描探针技术。更广泛的影响是，先进的纳米光子分析技术将对工业研究和开发产生重大影响，这些研究和开发对抗体筛选、药物、药物发现或DNA测序中使用的高通量筛选技术感兴趣。除了工业影响，该计划将被用来开发一个新的？移动的科学实验室？教育计划，将实验室带到学区的课堂上，用低预算和最少的资源教学生研究和科学。

The objective of this program is to uncover a novel single element force sensing platform that is based on force-sensitive plasmonic coatings embedded in the sharp decaying evanescent field of a sub-wavelength optical waveguide. By linking plasmonic materials such as gold nanoparticles to the optical waveguides via compressible polymer coatings, a highly sensitive force transducer can be fabricated. The transducer works by utilizing a dielectric-plasmon coupling effect to provide sub-nanometer optical feedback on the position of the plasmonic material in the evanescent field. By leveraging the size, tunable elastic properties of the polymer coating, and wavelength guided in the fibers, a highly versatile force detection scheme can be configured that has sub-pico-newton force sensitivity at the same time being self-contained and mobile. The intellectual merit is that discovering new optical methods capable of quantifying forces at the nanoscale will transform our ability to monitor cellular mechanics, determine kinetics of bond formation and breakage, and optimize drug design parameters, measure elastic moduli of materials, and image surfaces not accessible by current scan probe techniques. The broader impacts are that advancing nanophotonic analytical techniques will have a significant impact on industrial research and development interested in high-throughput screening techniques used in antibody screening, drug, drug discovery, or DNA sequencing. In addition to the industrial impacts, this program will be leveraged to develop a new ?Mobile Science Lab? educational program that brings the lab to the classroom in school districts with low budgets and minimal resources to teach students about research and science.