title: Signal enhancement of surface plasmon-coupled directional emission by a conical mirror.
abstract: A simple strategy for increasing the collection efficiency of surface plasmon-coupled emission (SPCE) is demonstrated. SPCE is a near-field phenomenon occurring when excited fluorophores are in close proximity to a subwavelength metal film. The energy of the fluorophores induces surface plasmons that radiate the coupled energy at highly specific angles. In an attempt to maximize the collected emission, a conical mirror was placed around the coupling prism. The result was a nearly 500 fold enhancement over the free space signal as detected from a single point from a poly(vinyl alcohol) layer doped with ruthenium. Coupling this large enhancement with LED excitation could lead to the development of inexpensive, handheld fluorescent devices with high sensitivity.
authors.affiliation: Center for Advanced Sensor Technology and Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, University of Maryland Baltimore County, 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, Maryland 21250, USA.
authors.forename: Derek S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Yordan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kostov
authors.forename: Govind
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rao
mesh_terms: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry*; D009942:Organometallic Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D010618:Phenanthrolines / Q000737:chemistry*; D012822:Silicon Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry; D012834:Silver / Q000737:chemistry; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence; D020349:Surface Plasmon Resonance / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D009942:Organometallic Compounds; D010618:Phenanthrolines; D012834:Silver; D012822:Silicon Dioxide; C041132:tris(4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline)ruthenium (II)