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We present radio-frequency (RF) heating-assisted nanoimprint lithography (NIL) for the rapid fabrication of nanostructured biochips. The chips were spin-coated using a RF-sensitive polymer film, namely polyethylene terephthalate glycol-modified (PETG). The RF heating process takes advantage of rapid temperature increases and cooling for NIL. Using a patterned nickel film as the mold, various nanostructures, such as nanowire, nanorod, and nanogrid arrays, were successfully fabricated within several seconds. For surface plasmon biosensing chips, the silver-coated nanowire arrays achieved a linewidth of 6.01 nm and wavelength sensitivity of 550 nm per refractive index unit. The functionality of the sensor was verified by observing the label-free antigen-antibody interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The self-aggregation of floccule-like ZnO nanostructures that were shaped by an anodic aluminum oxidation (AAO) template to improve photoactivation and sensing performance was demonstrated. Because of differences in the surface energy between the densely distributed nanopores of AAO templates, sputtered ZnO materials were located in constricted regions and aggregated into roughened nanostructures with a high surface-to-volume ratio. Because of the generation of oxygen ions by ultraviolet illumination, the room-temperature-sensing responses showed a high degree of linearity with a resistance variation of 1.758% per 100 ppm of octane gas. The optimized sensing performance of the self-organized ZnO nanostructures was increased and was 15.4 times higher than that of an unpatterned ZnO thin film. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a method that enables the excitation of localized surface plasmons (LSPs) in a gold nanodisk array by placing each nanodisk on top of a GaN nanorod. When the rod length was much longer than the plasmon penetration depth inside the nanorod, the plasmonic field was found to be localized, and coupling between neighboring gold nanodisks was eliminated. The interaction between LSPs and acoustic vibrations in gold nanodisks was then investigated. Owing to the strong localization of the plasmonic field, weak, higher-order vibrational modes of gold nanodisk could be optically observed. Furthermore, such an LSP-based acoustic sensor could be operated at any angle of incident light. Our study not only provides an approach to excite LSPs in high-density metallic arrays, but also opens one of the possible solutions for the development of highly sensitive subterahertz hypersonic sensors with high angle tolerance of incident light. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the dynamic study of optical trapping of fluorescent molecules using high-density gold nanodisk arrays. The gold nanodisks were fabricated by electron beam lithography with a diameter of 500 nm and a period of 1 μm. Dark-field illumination showed ~15 times enhancement of fluorescence near edges of nanodisks. Such enhanced near-field generated an optical trapping force of ~10 fN under 3.58 × 103 W/m2 illumination intensity as calculated from the Brownian motions of 590 nm polystyrene beads. Kinetic observation of thiolated DNA modified with Cy5 dye showed different binding rates of DNA under different illumination intensity. The binding rate increased from 2.14 × 103 s-1 (I = 0.7 × 103 W/m2 ) to 1.15 × 105 s-1 (I = 3.58 × 103 W/m2 ). Both enhanced fluorescence and binding rate indicate that gold nanodisks efficiently improve both detection limit and interaction time for microarrays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the optimal sensing condition for periodic gold nanoslits. The intensity sensitivities for various periods, from 400 to 900 nm, were measured. The experimental results show that 500-nm-period array has a maximum bulk sensitivity, three times larger than the sensitivities of 400 and 700 nm periods. The optimal period is attributed to the coincidence of the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) wavelength and lowest imaginary dielectric constant of gold film. The structure reaches a figure of merit of 23.9 and achieves a detection limit of 2.6 × 10-5 refractive index units at 0.2% stability, better than the grating-based SPR sensors using intensity interrogation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large phase differences between transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) waves were investigated in plasmonic nanoslit arrays. The phase of the TE wave shifts ahead because of its low propagation constant. On the other hand, the phase of the TM wave is retarded due to the propagation of surface plasmons. The opposite phase shift forms a giant birefringence. Its magnitude was dependent on the width of nanoslits. The birefringence magnitude was ∼1 for 300-nm-wide nanoslits and up to ∼2.7 for 100 nm ones. The spectroscopic measurements indicate that waveplates made of gold nanoslits have large bandwidths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a nano-optical probe for real-time refractive index measurement of single live cell. The probe was made of a tapered fiber tip coated with 13 nm diameter gold nanoparticles. The evanescent wave near the tip excited localized surface plasmon resonance of gold nanoparticles. By measuring the optical intensity scattered from the nanoparticles, the probe showed an intensity sensitivity up to ∼5400% per refractive index unit. The 3T3 fibroblast cell was tested by inserting the probe into the cytoplasm. Refractive index as measured by the localized plasmonic effect was 1.3506, consistent with the results measured by holographic methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents a photolithographic approach for producing high aspect ratio arrays in photoresist. The photomask is composed of hexagonal/square rod arrays with a thickness of 0.2 μm and a period of 600 nm. Illuminating the photomask with a blue laser generates periodically focused beams up to 1 μm long and less than 300 nm wide. A hexagonal rod array provides a better focused beam than a square array due to its higher symmetry. Finite-difference time-domain calculations elucidate the existence of long focused beams above the photomask. Optical near-field measurements verified those subwavelength beams originating from the rod regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nanoscaled tris-(8-hydroxyquinoline) aluminum (AlQ[sub 3]) crystalline film was synthesized by vapor condensation. It was stacked with nanometer-sized rods, approximately 100 nm wide and 1 μm long, and had a surface roughness of about 100 nm. The vibronic progression with several separated peaks was observed in the photoluminescence spectrum at room temperature. It is attributed to the crystallinity of AlQ[sub 3] and the coupling of vibrations of the individual ligands to the fluorescence transition. The emission current was also observed with a turn-on field of 12.0 V/μm, and a current density of about 0.8 mA/cm[sup 2] at 22 V/μm. Therefore, the AlQ[sub 3] crystalline film provides a choice for field emission. © 2003 American Institute of Physics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a method for measuring the true vibrational amplitude in the shear force microscopy. Use of beam diffraction method modifications as measurement basis; Movement of equilibrium position and dither vibration along the vibration direction; Multiplication of the laser focal spot and diffracted light alternating and direct current to determine method sensitivity.