(627f) Sensitive Chemical and Biological Sensing Enabled By Self-Assembled Plasmonic Crystals

We report the achievement of rapid and sensitive detection of various chemical and biological species including small molecules (e.g., benzenethiol), proteins, viruses and bacteria by using plasmonic crystals created by a simple and scalable bottom-up nanofabrication platform. This platform combines the simplicity and cost benefits of bottom-up colloidal self-assembly with the scalability and compatibility of top-down microfabrication for creating a large variety of highly ordered plasmonic nanostructures, such as periodic arrays of nanoholes, nanovoids, nanopyramids, and nanodimples. We have demonstrated the capability of this novel methodology in creating highly sensitive and reproducible surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) chemical and biological sensors over wafer-sized areas. The highest SERS enhancement factor and the SPR sensitivity achieved is on the order of 10¹⁰ and 800 nm per refractive index unit, respectively. This novel nanofabrication platform is compatible with standard microfabrication, enabling on-wafer integration of plasmonic biosensors with conventional microfluidic devices.