Single-nanostructure spectroscopy for optical characterization of discrete nanostructures and their development as miniaturized sensors and bioanalytical tools

我们的研究项目旨在探索生物分子介导的等离子体组装，用于传感和太阳能转换等应用。等离子体激元被积极地用于广泛的技术应用，包括生物医学成像、光电子学、电信和传感，其中纳米结构的形态和组织支持等离子体激元增强效应。传统的体光学表征技术探测纳米结构的集合，因此遭受样品不均匀性和光谱展宽的影响。因此，在单个纳米结构水平上测量光学性质的技术对于阐明电磁相互作用是非常宝贵的。我们的研究目的是使用单纳米结构光谱学来研究离散的生物分子连接的多纳米颗粒组装体中的等离子体耦合。所要求的光谱设置将用于表征和指导这些动态纳米结构的设计，以实现非常规的光谱响应，从而提供新的传感能力。传感技术的潜在进展包括无需纯化即可检测真实的样品中的分析物，以及开发用于高密度多路复用阵列和用于定量分析细胞过程中局部化学环境的纳米光学传感器。所要求的设备将有助于开发新的生物分析工具，可能有利于加拿大的生物医学研究，并促进等离子体的基础研究。这种表征技术将为本科生和研究生提供一个很好的培训基础，除了他们对化学和生物相互作用的研究之外，还包括光谱学，仪器集成和科学编程。

Our research program aims to explore biomolecular-mediated plasmonic assemblies for applications such as sensing and solar energy conversion. Plasmonics are actively pursued for a wide range of technological applications including biomedical imaging, optoelectronics, telecommunications and sensing, in which the morphology and organization of the nanostructures underpins the plasmon-enhanced effects. Conventional bulk optical characterization techniques probe an ensemble of nanostructures and therefore suffer from effects of sample inhomogeneity and spectral broadening. Techniques for measuring optical properties at the single nanostructure level are therefore invaluable for elucidating the electromagnetic interactions. Our research aims to use single-nanostructure spectroscopy to investigate plasmon coupling in discrete biomolecular-linked multi-nanoparticle assemblies. The requested spectroscopic setup will be used to characterize and guide the design of these dynamic nanostructures for achieving unconventional spectral response that can provide new capabilities in sensing. Potential advances in sensing include the ability to detect analytes in real samples without purification and the development nano optical sensors for high-density multiplexed arrays and for quantitative analysis of local chemical environment in cellular processes. The requested equipment will be instrumental for developing new bioanalytical tools that may benefit biomedial research in Canada, and for advancing fundamental research in plasmonics. This characterization technique will provide an excellent training ground for undergraduate and graduate students in optical spectroscopy, instrument integration and scientific programming in addition to their studies on chemical and biological interactions.