title: Predicting the fluorescent enhancement rate by gold and silver nanospheres using finite-difference time-domain analysis.
abstract: Metal-induced fluorescence enhancement (MIFE) is a promising strategy for increasing the sensitivity of fluorophores used in biological sensors. This study uses the finite-difference time-domain technique to predict the fluorescent enhancement rate of a fluorophore molecule in close proximity to a gold or silver spherical nanoparticle. By considering commercially available fluorescent dyes the computed results are compared with the published experimental data. The results show that MIFE is a complex coupling process between the fluorophore molecule and the metal nanoparticle. Nevertheless using computational electromagnetic techniques to perform calculations it is possible to calculate, with reasonable accuracy, the fluorescent enhancement. Using this methodology it will be possible to consider different shaped metal nanoparticles and any supporting substrate material in the future, an important step in building reliable biosensors capable of detecting low levels of proteins tagged with fluorescence molecules.
authors.affiliation: Electronic Systems Engineering Department, Malaysia Japan International Institute of Technology, UTM Kuala Lumpur, Jalan Semarak, 54100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. acenteno@ic.utm.my
authors.forename: Anthony
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Centeno
authors.forename: Fang
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Neil
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Alford
mesh_terms: D000042:Absorption; D003198:Computer Simulation; D055590:Electromagnetic Phenomena; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000737:chemistry*; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D054118:Nanospheres / Q000737:chemistry*; D011789:Quantum Theory; D012834:Silver / Q000737:chemistry*; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D012834:Silver; D006046:Gold