title: Optical sensing of analytes in aqueous solutions with a multiple surface-plasmon-polariton-wave platform.
abstract: The commonly used optical sensor based on surface plasmon-polariton wave phenomenon can sense just one chemical, because only one SPP wave can be guided by the interface of a metal and a dielectric material contained in the sensor. Multiple analytes could be detected and/or the sensing reliability for a single analyte could be enhanced, if multiple SPP-wave modes could be excited on a single metal/dielectric interface. For that to happen, the partnering dielectric material must be periodically non-homogeneous. Using a chiral sculptured thin film (CSTF) as that material in a SPP-wave platform, we show that the angular locations of multiple SPP-wave modes shift when the void regions of the CSTF are infiltrated with a fluid. The sensitivities realized in the proof-of-concept experiments are comparable to state-of-research values.
authors.affiliation: The Pennsylvania State University - Dept. of Engineering Science and Mechanics, 212 Earth and Engineering Science Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
authors.forename: Stephen E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Swiontek
authors.forename: Drew P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Pulsifer
authors.forename: Akhlesh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lakhtakia