Nanostructured Optical Devices for Biosensing Applications

We demonstrated a sensitive biosensor based on plasmonic metal composite nanostructures. The device can be fabricated and duplicated with ease using a novel nanoprinting technology which allows precise transfer of metal nanostructures without complicated lithography processes. The design featured by its unique material composition and sub-wavelength structures maximizes the exposure of localized plasmonic hot spots to analyte and, therefore, enhances the refractive-index sensitivity with a plasmon resonance peak in visible range. A refractive-index-sensitivity of {\textasciitilde} 502 nm/RIU and a figure-of-merit of {\textasciitilde} 30.1 RIU1 has been achieved. The new sensing technology will find applications in medical diagnostics and environmental monitoring.