LEAPS-MPS: Dispersive Coupling of Light to Surface Plasmons for Biosensing

该奖项全部或部分由《2021年美国救援计划法案》（公法117-2）资助。对电磁场和辐射的控制以及它们与物质相互作用的研究导致了重大的科学和技术进步。这些较小长度尺度上的相互作用导致了新的物理效应，使人工原子、超材料、负折射和等离子体等新应用成为可能。在纳米尺度上对这些相互作用的创新控制和操作有望改变包括生物医学传感、成像、能源、通信和计算在内的各个领域。在生物医学传感领域，基于表面等离子体共振的生物传感器在灵敏度和检测极限方面代表了最先进的平台。该奖项将研究一种将辐射耦合到表面等离子体激元的新方法，目标是开发基于等离子体效应的下一代生物医学传感器。这项工作解决了当前传感方面的技术障碍，这项工作的结果将推动生物医学诊断技术的进步。此外，该项目将为光谱学和光通信的新型光子器件和结构的设计开辟新的科学方向和替代策略。此外，这项工作将为来自不同背景的学生提供研究和培训机会。该奖项的科学目标是通过引入一种新的耦合机制来重新设想基于表面等离子体共振的生物传感器的工作原理，这种机制可以导致前所未有的灵敏度提高。早期检测是治疗成功的关键，这需要检测低浓度的小分子量分析物，如短序列生物分子、癌症生物标志物、抗体等。需要显著提高灵敏度，以便对这些生物分子进行无标记检测。本研究旨在建立描述通过所提出的激发方法激发的表面等离子体波特征的解析关系。它将探索设计参数，为超灵敏生物医学传感器提出指导方针，并开发传感器平台。这项工作的结果预计将彻底改变生物传感，纳米光子学和光谱学领域。提出的耦合概念代表了该领域的一个全新概念和范式转变，并将对利用等离子体的独特能力的几个领域产生影响。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2).Control of electromagnetic fields and radiation and the study of their interactions with matter has resulted in significant scientific and technological advances. These interactions at smaller length scale led to new physical effects enabling novel applications such as artificial atoms, metamaterials, negative refraction, and plasmonics. Innovative control and manipulation of these interactions at nanometer length scale holds promise to transform various fields including biomedical sensing, imaging, energy, communications, and computing. In the field of biomedical sensing, surface plasmon resonance-based biosensors represent the state-of-the-art platforms in terms of sensitivity and limit of detection. This award will investigate a novel method for coupling radiations to surface plasmons with the goal to develop next generation biomedical sensors based on plasmonic effects. The work addresses a current technological barrier in sensing and results of this work will enable advancement of the biomedical diagnostic technology. In addition, this project will open new science directions and lead to alternative strategies in designing novel photonic devices and structures for spectroscopy and optical communications. Further, the work will provide research and training opportunities for students from diverse backgrounds.The scientific goal of this award is to re-envision the working principal of surface plasmon resonance-based biosensors by introducing a new coupling mechanism that can lead to unprecedented increase in sensitivity. Early detection is the key to successful treatment, which requires detection of small molecular weight analytes in low concentrations such as short sequence biomolecules, cancer biomarkers, antibodies, etc. Significant increase in sensitivity is required to allow for label-free detection of these biomolecules. This study aims to develop analytical relations describing the characteristics of surface plasmon waves excited via the proposed excitation method. It will explore design parameters, suggest guidelines for ultrasensitive biomedical sensors and develop a sensor platform. Results of this work are envisioned to revolutionize the fields of biosensing, nano-photonics and spectroscopy. The proposed idea of coupling represents a fundamentally new concept and a paradigm shift in the field and will have implications in several areas exploiting the unique capabilities of plasmonics.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.