Gold Nanoparticle-Based Terahertz Metamaterial Sensors: Mechanisms and Applications

Abstract

Terahertz (THz) waves, especially those assisted by THz metamaterials, have great potential for detecting trace amounts of sensing targets. Some nanomaterials, such as gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), also show promising characteristics; however, their application in this context is hindered by a lack of plasmonic activity in the THz region. This study is the first to introduce AuNPs into THz metamaterial applications as a new tool for improving the sensitivity of protein detection. We demonstrate the mechanism of THz metamaterial detection through sensing different targets by using metamaterials with distinct resonance peaks. Furthermore, we used an AuNP-based THz metamaterial sensing method to detect avidin. The limit of detection of conjugated avidin-AuNPs reached 7.8 fmol, presenting greater than a 1000-fold sensitivity improvement compared with that of avidin alone. Our present work illustrates the feasibility of AuNP-based protein sensing, which may lay a foundation for the development of numerous metallic nanoparticle-based THz metamaterial biosensors.

Nanofluidic terahertz metasensor for sensing in aqueous environment

“…29 Alternatively, the high sensitivity of the metamaterial to the surrounding medium can also be exploited as an efficient sensing platform. [30][31][32][33] The enhanced sensitivity of the metamaterial comes from the strong confinement of electromagnetic fields in a subwavelength region and hence provides a pathway for reducing the analyte volume. This is extremely critical for sensing of biological molecules in aqueous solution, since THz absorption by water is significantly large and has been a challenge to THz spectroscopy for biological sensing.…”

Micro/Nano Technology for Next‐Generation Diagnostics

“…Ying and co‐workers and Ahmadivand et al demonstrated that AuNPs significantly increased the signal quality of THz metamaterials. As a result, the sensitivity and selectivity for specific targets were greatly enhanced . Another commonly involved nanomaterials in THz devices was the carbon nanomaterials, including graphene, single wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs), and multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), etc .…”

“…G) The regular reflective detection mode of terahertz metamaterials and Reflective curves resulting from different amounts of gold nanoparticles. Adapted with permission 16b. Copyright 2016, American Chemistry Society.…”

Regenerated amplification of terahertz spoof surface plasmon radiation

“…Terahertz (THz) wave spectrum locates between the microwave and far infrared regions and becomes more and more attractive for various applications, including high-data-rate communication, bio-medicine imaging, immunosensing, security inspection, sensitivity-enhanced nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and so on [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9]. Room-temperature efficient THz sources play key roles in developing THz technologies and applications.…”