Localized surface plasmon resonance biosensor: an improved technique for SERS response intensification

Abstract

As technology continues to advance, the development of novel sensing systems opens up new possibilities for low cost, practical biosensing applications. In this paper, we demonstrate a localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) system that combines both wave-guiding and plasmonic resonance sensing with a single microstructured polymeric structure. Characterizing the sensor using Finite Element Method (FEM) simulation results show a record wavelength sensitivity (WS) of 111000 nm/RIU, high amplitude sensitivity (AS) of 2050 RIU−1 , high sensor resolution and limit of detection (LOD) of 9 × 10−7 RIU and 8.12 × 10−12 RIU2/nm respectively. Furthermore, these sensors have the capability to detect an analyte within the refractive index (RI) range of 1.33 to 1.43 in the visible to mid-IR therefore being potentially suitable for applications in biomolecular and chemical analyte detection