Detection of microorganisms using terahertz metamaterials.
Microorganisms such as fungi and bacteria cause many human diseases and therefore rapid and accurate identification of these substances is essential for effective treatment and prevention of further infections. In particular, contemporary microbial detection technique is limited by the low detection speed which usually extends over a couple of days. Here we demonstrate that metamaterials operating in the terahertz frequency range shows promising potential for use in fabricating the highly sensitive and selective microbial sensors that are capable of high-speed on-site detection of microorganisms in both ambient and aqueous environments. We were able to detect extremely small amounts of the microorganisms, because their sizes are on the same scale as the micro-gaps of the terahertz metamaterials. The resonant frequency shift of the metamaterials was investigated in terms of the number density and the dielectric constants of the microorganisms, which was successfully interpreted by the change in the effective dielectric constant of a gap area.
Department of Physics and Division of Energy Systems Research, Ajou University, Suwon 443-749, Korea.
S J
SJ
Park
Department of Physics and Division of Energy Systems Research, Ajou University, Suwon 443-749, Korea.
J T
JT
Hong
Department of Biological Science, Ajou University, Suwon 443-749, Korea.
S J
SJ
Choi
Department of Biological Science, Ajou University, Suwon 443-749, Korea.
H S
HS
Kim
Advanced Medical Device Research Center, Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute, Ansan 426-170, Korea.
W K
WK
Park
Advanced Medical Device Research Center, Korea Electrotechnology Research Institute, Ansan 426-170, Korea.
S T
ST
Han
Department of Physics and Division of Energy Systems Research, Ajou University, Suwon 443-749, Korea.
J Y
JY
Park
Department of Physics and Division of Energy Systems Research, Ajou University, Suwon 443-749, Korea.
S
S
Lee
Center for Subwavelength Optics and Department of Physics and Astronomy, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-747, Korea.
D S
DS
Kim
Department of Physics and Division of Energy Systems Research, Ajou University, Suwon 443-749, Korea.
Y H
YH
Ahn
D001419:Bacteria / Q000737:chemistry*; D005658:Fungi / Q000737:chemistry*; D020349:Surface Plasmon Resonance / Q000379:methods*; D055053:Terahertz Radiation; D055068:Terahertz Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods*