Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance Nanosensor:  A High-Resolution Distance-Dependence Study Using Atomic Layer Deposition

Abstract

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is used to deposit 1-600 monolayers of Al 2 O 3 on Ag nanotriangles fabricated by nanosphere lithography (NSL). Each monolayer of Al 2 O 3 has a thickness of 1.1 Å. It is demonstrated that the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) nanosensor can detect Al 2 O 3 film growth with atomic spatial resolution normal to the nanoparticle surface. This is approximately 10 times greater spatial resolution than that in our previous long-range distance-dependence study using multilayer self-assembled monolayer shells. The use of ALD enables the study of both the long-and short-range distance dependence of the LSPR nanosensor in a single unified experiment. Ag nanoparticles with fixed in-plane widths and decreasing heights yield larger sensing distances. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry, and quartz crystal microbalance measurements are used to study the growth mechanism. It is proposed that the growth of Al 2 O 3 is initiated by the decomposition of trimethylaluminum on Ag. Semiquantitative theoretical calculations were compared with the experimental results and yield excellent agreement.

Measurement of the localised plasmon penetration depth for gold nanoparticles using a non-invasive bio-stacking method

“…onto the nanoparticles while monitoring the sensor response 6,8,9 . The effect of the coating material choice on the apparent l d is not clear because of the limited experimental data.…”

Use of thermally annealed multilayer gold nanoparticle films in combination analysis of localized surface plasmon resonance sensing and MALDI mass spectrometry

“…This LSPR wavelength shift, which is based on the change in the refractive index, can be examined by using UV-vis transmission or reflection spectroscopy. Several types of LSPR sensing platforms have been reported such as substrates on which immobilized NPs from a colloidal solution, [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] lithographically fabricated triangular-nanocrystal arrays, [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28] nanohole arrays produced by ion-beam lithography, [29][30][31][32] and transparent substrates on which metal island films are fabricated by vapor deposition. [33][34][35][36][37][38][39] When LSPR sensing is conducted in transmission mode, it is known as transmission localized surface plasmon resonance (T-LSPR) sensing.…”

Preparation of Gold Nanoisland Arrays from Layer-by-Layer Assembled Nanoparticle Multilayer Films

“…[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] In LSPR sensing, the spot size can be minimized to a small number of individual sensing elements with an in-plane width of less than ~ 100 nm. Therefore, LSPR-based nanosensors can be extremely simple, small, and light.…”

“…In addition, the LSPR nanosensors can be used in both transmission mode and reflection mode. [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] When UV-vis extinction spectroscopy in transmission geometry is used for sensing, it is known as transmission localized surface plasmon resonance (T-LSPR) sensing. The major advantage of T-LSPR sensing over conventional SPR sensing lies in the low-cost samples and simple experimental setup, which can be reduced to measurements at a single wavelength in a transmission configuration.…”

“…[15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] Van Duyne's nanosphere lithographic techniques involve the fabrication of arrays of triangular silver nanoparticles in the interstices between the elements of the nanosphere deposition mask. [8][9][10][11][12][13][14] The removal of the deposition mask following thermal deposition, pulsed laser deposition, or e-beam deposition of metal leaves triangular nanoisland arrays on the solid substrates. Changes in the gold or silver surface plasmon (SP) extinction induced by the binding of various analytes to the island surface or to a molecular layer on the island surface can be monitored using transmission UV-vis spectroscopy.…”