Surface plasmon resonance sensor using an optical fiber with an inverted graded-index profile

A new optical fiber sensor based on surface plasmon resonance is described. It uses an optical fiber with an inverted graded-index profile. A theoretical analysis of the optical propagation when a point light source was used and a computation of the optical power transmitted by the fiber were performed. Experiments were carried out to measure changes of the transmitted power caused by refractive-index variations of the surrounding dielectric medium. Both the simulation and experiments have shown that the sensor exhibits high sensitivity for changes of the surrounding medium in a refractive index range from 1.33 to 1.39.     

采用虚拟仪器技术的表面等离子体共振传感器

针对表面等离子体共振(SPR)传感器对精度和数据处理能力的要求,利用虚拟仪器技术,自行设计了一套基于角度扫描的Kretschmann结构SPR测试系统。为了提高折射率的测量分辨力,系统采用了高精度步进电机控制的旋转平台。软件中使用巴特沃思低通滤波器消除出射光干涉噪声引起的高频干扰。同时,提出了一种双棱镜自适应结构对出射光路进行实时调整,实现角度扫描过程中光探测器固定不动。实验测得空气和蒸馏水样品的折射率分别为1.00293和1.33432,结果与理论值基本吻合,且具有良好的重复性和达到10-5RIU(RefractiveIndexUnit)的分辨力。     

Surface plasmon resonance in a metal-coated single-mode optical fiber with decreased normalized frequency

We have numerically simulated the excitation of surface plasmon resonance in a bent metal-coated single-mode optical fiber with decreased normalized frequency. It is established that an optimum combination of the normalized frequency, bending radius, and film thickness favors effective energy transfer from guided radiation to a plasmon-polariton wave excited on the surface of a metal film deposited onto the optical cladding. It is shown that, using this effect, it is possible to measure the refractive index (RI) of an external medium with a spectral sensitivity of 70 δm/RI unit and a resolution of up to 3 × 10⁻⁷ RI unit.

     

Multiple plasmon couplings in 3D hybrid Au-nanoparticles-decorated Ag nanocone arrays boosting highly sensitive surface enhanced Raman scattering

Plasmon coupling is an essential strategy to realize strong local electromagnetic(EM)field which is crucial for high-performance plasmonic devices.In this work,multiple plasmon couplings are demonstrated in three-dimensional(3D)hybrid plasmonic systems composed of polydimethylsiloxane-supported ordered silver nanocone(AgNC)arrays decorated with high-density gold nanoparticles(AuNPs)which are fabricated by a template-assisted physical vapor deposition process.Strong interparticle coupling,particle-film coupling,inter-cone coupling,and particle-cone coupling are revealed by numerical simulations in such composite nanostructures,which produce intense and high-density EM hot spots,boosting highly sensitive and reproducible surface enhanced Raman scattering(SERS)detection with an enhancement factor of-1.74×10⁸.Furthermore,a linear correlation between logarithmic Raman intensity and logarithmic concentration of probe molecules is observed in a large concentration range.These results offer new ideas to develop novel plasmonic devices,and provide alternative strategy to realize flexible and high-performance SERS sensors for trace molecule detection and quantitative analysis.     

Surface plasmon resonance imaging of biomolecular interactions on a grating-based sensor array

A surface plasmon resonance sensor array based upon a grating substrate was developed for the detection of biomolecular interactions. The substrate consisted of a gold grating prepared by wet chemical treatment of a commercial recordable compact disk. A custom-built floating pin microspotter was constructed to deliver solutions containing omega-functionalized linear alkanethiols to the grating surface and produce an array of sensor elements with different exposed functional end groups. This array platform can be used to study biomolecular interactions in a label-free, sensitive, and high-throughput format. To illustrate the performance of this device, a test protein (bovine serum albumin) was exposed to sensor elements containing an array of functionalized alkanethiols possessing either activated carboxylic acid-, amine-, or hydroxyl-terminated regions. Local changes in plasmon resonance were monitored in a fixed-angle imaging configuration. Plasmon images clearly distinguish the degree of protein attachment at the various surfaces. The molecular binding events on the grating were also confirmed by ellipsometry. This grating-based SPR imaging platform represents a simple and robust method for performing label-free, high-sensitivity, and high-throughput detection of biomolecular interactions.     

A nitrite sensor based on a highly sensitive nitrite reductase mediator-coupled amperometric detection

Highly sensitive nitrite sensors have been developed for the first time based on mediator-modified electrodes. Tetraheme cytochrome c nitrite reductase from Sulfurospirillum deleyianum and cytochrome cd(1) nitrite reductase from Paracoccus denitrificans are able to accept electrons from artificial electron donors, which simultaneously act as electron mediators between the enzyme and an amperometric electrode. In addition to methyl viologen, redox-active compounds such as phenazines (phenosafranin, safranin T, N-methylphenazinium, 1-methoxy-N-methylphenazinium) and triarylmethane redox dyes (bromphenol blue and red) were selected from a range of redox compounds exhibiting the most efficient performance for nitrite detection. After precipitation, the electron mediators were incorporated in a graphite electrode material. Enzyme immobilization is performed by entrapment in a poly(carbamoyl sulfonate) (PCS) hydrogel. Diffusion coefficients and apparent heterogeneous rate constants of the mediators as well as homogeneous rate constants of nitrite sensors were determined by chronoamperometry and cyclic voltammetry. The phenosafranin-modified electrode layered with the PCS hydrogel immobilization of tetraheme cytochrome c nitrite reductase yielded linear current responses up to 250 μM nitrite with a sensitivity of 446.5 mA M(-)(1) cm(-)(2). The detection limit of the enzymatic nitrite sensor was found to be 1 μM nitrite.     

Development of a specific and highly sensitive optical chemical sensor for determination of Hg(II) based on a new synthesized ionophore

A novel optode for determination of Hg(II) ions is developed based on immobilization of a recently synthesized ionophore, 7-(1H-imidazol-1-ylmethyl)-5,6,7,8,9,10-hexahydro-2H-1,13,4,7,10 benzodioxatriaza cyclopentadecine-3,11(4H,12H)-dione, in a PVC membrane. Dioctyl sebacate was used as a plasticizer, sodium tetraphenylborate as an anionic additive and ETH5294 as a chromoionophore. The response of the optode was based on the complexation of Hg(II) with the ionophore in the membrane phase, resulting an ion exchange process between Hg(II) in the sample solution and H⁺ in the membrane. The effects of pH and amounts of the ionophore, chromoionophore, ionic additive and type of plasticizer on the optode response were investigated. The selectivity of the optode was studied in the present of several cations. The optode has a linear response to Hg(II) in the range of 7.2 × 10^? 13–4.7 × 10^? 4 mol L^? 1 with detection limit of 0.18 pmol L^? 1. The optode was successfully applied to the determination of Hg(II) in real samples.     

Surface plasmon resonance: theoretical evolutionary design optimization for a model analyte sensitive absorbing-layer system

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) has been widely used in a Kretschmann configuration to study optical thickness changes of layers on a Au surface in response to an analyte. The method has been popularized and optimized for protein layers, but has also been used in the same format for other layers without further optimization including those absorbing at the incident wavelength. In this paper, we examine whether SPR remains the "best"attenuated reflectivity format for absorbing overlayers. Experimental data from the SPR response of a copper phthalocyanine film to nitrogen dioxide are used as an input example for a design process using an evolutionary algorithm. The data showed a trend toward thinner gold layer systems ( approximately 25 nm gave an contrast-enhancement of 42.9% compared with approximately 50-nm Au) or Au-free solutions including a layer with low refractive index. From the evolutionary design predictions, further modification could be tested based on available materials and "redundant layers" could be eliminated from the final selection. By inclusion of the external optics, a design could be selected to accommodate poor precision (+/-0.5 degrees ) in the incident angle and a possible multilayer solution was shown using Teflon AF 1600, with refractive index approximately 1.3. The predicted NO(2) response showed an improvement compared with the classical SPR configuration, and the incident angle chosen by the SGA for the interrogation of these layers was close to a stationary point in the absolute response curve, thus offering very good tolerance to automatic position referencing to the reflectivity minimum.     

A hybrid humidity sensor using optical waveguides on a quartz crystal microbalance

In this study, slab and ridge optical waveguides (OWGs) made of fluorinated polyimides were deposited on a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM), and hybrid sensors using OWG spectroscopy and the QCM technique were prepared. Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) film with CoCl₂ was deposited on the OWGs, and the characteristics of humidity sensing were investigated. A prism coupler was used to enter a He–Ne laser beam (λ = 632.8 nm) to the slab OWG. The output light intensity markedly changed due to chromism of the CoCl₂ as a result of humidity sorption, and this change was dependent on the incident angle of the laser beam to the slab OWG. During the measurement of output light, the QCM frequency was simultaneously monitored. The humidity dependence of the sensor with the slab OWG was also investigated in the range from 15 to 85%. For the sensor with the ridge OWG, white light was entered by butt-coupling, and the characteristics of humidity sensing were investigated by observing the output light spectrum and the QCM frequency.     

Discrimination of methanol and ethanol vapors by the use of a single optical sensor with a microporous sensitive layer

The sorption of methanol and ethanol vapors by a microporous glassy polycarbonate is studied. The increase of the refractive index of the polymer during analyte sorption is measured by surface plasmon resonance. Both analytes are sorbed into the micropores of the polymer showing different diffusion kinetics. The sensor response during analyte exposure is subdivided into different time channels. By evaluating this additional data dimension by neural networks, a simultaneous multicomponent analysis of binary mixtures of ethanol and methanol vapors is possible using the sensor response of only one single sensor. A feature extraction results in an interpretable model and an improved prediction with errors of 2.0% for methanol and 2.4% for ethanol.     

Highly sensitive wave-front sensor with a non-zero-order phase plate

We propose a novel highly sensitive wave front detection method for a quick check of a flat wave front by taking advantage of a non-zero-order pi phase plate that yields a non-zero-order diffraction pattern. When a light beam with a flat wave front illuminates a phase plate, the zero-order intensity is zero. When there is a slight distortion of the wave front, the zero-order intensity increases. The ratio of first-order intensity to that of zero-order intensity is used as the criterion with which to judge whether the wave front under test is flat, eliminating the influence of background light. Experimental results demonstrate that this method is efficient, robust, and cost-effective and should be highly interesting for a quick check of a flat wave front of a large-aperture laser beam and adaptive optical systems.     

Poly(ether ether ketone) grafted with sulfoalkylamine for highly sensitive humidity sensor with small hysteresis

Here, a series of novel poly(ether ether ketone) containing sulfoalkylamine pendant groups (SNPEEK-x) were synthesized by grafting copolymerization reaction. The chemical structure of SNPEEK-x was identified by ¹H NMR and the morphology of all films was measured by SAXS and TEM. The impedance varied for five orders of magnitude (from 10⁷ to 10² Ω) as the relative humidity increasing from 11 to 97% RH. At the same time, all samples exhibited a fast response time of less than?3 s, outstanding repeatability and good long-term durability against high humidity. Especially, SNPEEK-x sensors displayed an extremely small humidity hysteresis in the impedance versus RH relationship during absorption and desorption processes. These essential properties of humidity sensors such as the impedance at various humidity, sensitivity, linearity and humidity hysteresis revealed that SNPEEK-x are suitable to be used as humidity sensors.     

Performance of a compact, hybrid optical evanescent-wave sensor for chemical and biological applications

We describe a hybrid evanescent-wave sensor component that we fabricated by using an integrated optical interferometer with a specially adapted photodetector array. The design of the interferometer is based on the use of tapered waveguides to obtain two intersecting collimated beams. Phase shifts can be measured with an angular precision of better than 10(-3) rad, which corresponds to a superstrate index change inferior of 10(-6) with our structure. The interest in the device as a chemical sensor is experimentally demonstrated. The same optical component could be used in a variety of other sensor applications, e.g., biological and immunological sensors.     

Amperometric sensor based on a graphene/copper hexacyanoferrate nano-composite for highly sensitive electrocatalytic determination of captopril

In this work, a bi-layer modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was prepared by depositing appropriate amounts of multilayered graphene (GR) on the surface of GCE, followed by electrodepositing copper hexacyanoferrate (CuHCF) nano-particles on the graphene layer. The combination of graphene and CuHCF considerably improved the current response of the GCE towards the oxidation of captopril. Studies showed that the best response of the modified electrode could be achieved within neutral pHs. At a fixed potential under hydrodynamic conditions (stirred solutions), the oxidation current is proportional to the captopril concentration and the calibration plots were linear over the concentration ranges of 0.2 to 5.8 μM and 5.8 to 480 μM. The detection limit of the method was 0.09 μM. The modified electrode was used for electrocatalytic determination of captopril in some real samples.     

Measurements of the statistical characteristics of the turbulence of an optical system with hybrid fiber-optic sensor

An optical system for diagnostics of turbulence with hybrid fiber-optic sensor is considered. The system functions in a digital mode of photographic recording of a two-dimensional accumulated optical signal directly associated with the two-dimensional probability density of turbulent fluctuations of the flow in the measurement region. From the values of the probability density, estimators of the statistical characteristics of turbulence are given in the form of digital matrices. __________ Translated from Izmeritel’naya Tekhnika, No. 9, pp. 25–29, September, 2006.     

Surface plasmon resonance in a bent single-mode fiber with a metallized cladding experimental research

The processes of surface plasmon resonance excitation in a bent single-mode optical fiber with a metallized cladding have been studied experimentally. It is shown that, for a certain combination of the bending radius of an optical fiber and the thickness of a metal film, a strong coupling between the fundamental and plasmon–polariton mode is achieved through a whispering gallery mode supported by the fiber cladding, which leads to the formation of a resonance dip with a depth of ~30 dB or more in the transmission spectrum of an optical fiber loop. The position of the dip depends strongly on the ambient refractive index, which provides the possibility of refractometric measurements with a spectral sensitivity of ~5 μm/RIU and a resolution of ~4 × 10^–6. Limits of measurement of the refractive index are determined by the operating spectral range and the bending radius of the optical fiber and are 1.42–1.44 for the setup used.     

Enhanced third-order optical nonlinearity of silver nanoparticles with a tunable surface plasmon resonance

Poly(vinylalcohol) (PVA)-stabilized silver nanoparticles were prepared by a seeding method. Nanoparticles of varying morphology were obtained by controlled variation of the reaction conditions, and this method allowed the tailoring of the position of the surface plasmon resonance. The samples show two bands in the visible absorption spectrum: one in the 410-440-nm region and a second peak between 500 and 600 nm. This tunable surface plasmon resonance serves to increase the third-order optical nonlinearity (chi 3) of the nanoparticles (measured at 532 nm) by a factor of 16.     

Detection of heavy metals by an optical fiber sensor with a sensitive cladding including a new chromogenic calix[4]arene molecule

Industrial processes introduce up to a million different pollutants into the atmosphere and the aquatic ecosystem. Heavy metals are one group of these substances, although not all of them are considered harmful to humans.The molecule of calixarene is a macrocycle used effectively in the complexation of the heavy metal pollutants (nickel, copper(II)…). The goal of this work is to condition a new chromogenic calix[4]arene molecule to elaborate an optical fiber sensor able to detect this type of pollutant. The light power increases when the concentration of the ion increases. The optimum pH for heavy metal ion detection is found to be 5. The influence of the unclad length on the response sensor is studied and the optimum length is found to be around 3 cm. The limit of detection reached is of the order of 1 μM, 10^− 3 μM and 10^− 4 μM for copper(II), cobalt(II) and cadmium(II) cations respectively.     

A theoretical study of gas adsorption on tin arsenic and its application as a highly sensitive NO2 sensor

Journal of Materials Science - The sensing performance of tin arsenic (SnAs) monolayer with adsorption of different gas molecules at room temperature was systematically investigated by the...