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Fano-resonant asymmetric metamaterials for ultra-sensitive spectroscopy and identification of molecular monolayers
Last modified: 2012-01-06
Abstract
Engineered optical metamaterials present a unique platform for biosensing applications owing to their ability to confine light to nanoscale regions and to their spectral selectivity. Infrared plasmonic metamaterials are especially attractive because their resonant response can be accurately tuned to that of the vibrational modes of the target bio-molecules. Here we introduce a novel infrared plasmonic surface based on Fano-resonant asymmetric metamaterial (FRAMM) exhibiting sharp resonances caused by the interference between sub-radiant and super-radiant plasmonic resonances. Owing to metamaterial’s asymmetry, the frequency of the sub-radiant resonance can be precisely determined and matched to the molecule’s vibrational fingerprints. A multi-pixel array of FRAMMs is used as a platform for multi-spectral biosensing of nanometer-scale monolayers of recognition proteins and their surface orientation, as well as for detecting chemical binding of target antibodies to recognition proteins.