Surface plasmon resonance design of chip-type sensor with nanoparticles

The heterogeneous character of thin gold films prepared by thermal evaporation and the dependence of this heterogeneity on the rate of their deposition must be considered when exploiting their optical properties for biosensor purposes. Such is the case for the performance of thin gold films for surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensors. SPR is a phenomenon occurring at metal surfaces (typically gold and silver) when an incident light beam strikes the surface at a particular angle. The main goal is to develop a theoretical model and measuring setup for nanotechnologies, which can be used to fabricate Au nanoparticles for possible SPR biosensing applications. Care must be taken in preparing film with a high fraction of gold (>95%) or it may be drastically degraded. MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) technologies have provided a wide spectrum of new designs and fabrication techniques for microsensors, micro-fluidic systems and micro-systems. However, the search for additional biomedical applications is the driving force behind the continuous growth of SPR technology. This paper discusses the basic concept of bi-directional flow rate detection, design and fabrication of a chip-type SPR sensor, which can be used to monitor biomolecular interactions.