Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors: approaching their limits?

Abstract

We report on a unified theoretical model of the resolution of SPR sensors which makes it possible to predict the ultimate performance of all major configurations of SPR sensors. The theory indicates that the performance of SPR sensors is independent of the method of excitation of surface plasmons (prism or grating coupling) or the method of modulation (amplitude, angular or wavelength) and depends dominantly on the noise properties of the light source and detector. Results of the theoretical analysis are compared with the performance reported for several SPR sensors to illustrate that the best state-of-art SPR sensors are approaching their theoretical limits. Possibilities for further advances in the performance of SPR sensor technology are discussed.

Detection of protein aggregation with a Bloch surface wave based sensor

“…The resolution of the system is ın = 1.24 × 10 −4 RIU. This is two orders of magnitude lower than the best SPR sensors [16], but is inherent to the design choices rather than the technique, that has been shown to reach much larger sensitivities [8]. The lower observed resolution is due to the angular resolution of the motors used in the angular scanning scheme.…”

“…In this context, BSW sensors, as well as surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors [16], have unique properties, such as real time response, versatility, low cost and extremely high surface sensitivity. The ability of the former to detect various protein interactions has been already demonstrated [17][18][19].…”

Phase‐sensitive surface plasmon resonance biosensors: methodology, instrumentation and applications

“…Changes of amplitude parameters in the reflected beam can be controlled by either recording the light intensity under a proper combination of resonant angle of incidence and wavelength or by monitoring angular (or spectral) position of the resonant dip. Theoretically, if the noise level from light source, photodetector and environment is sufficiently low, all methods based on amplitude measurement will deliver the same sensitivity no matter whether or not modulation methods are employed [33]. However, in practice various interrogation methods present different level of noises that results in their different LODs.…”

Au/Fe/Au multilayer transducers for magneto-optic surface plasmon resonance sensing

“…Even though the sensitivity of SPR sensors is highly dependent on the spectral position of the resonance, 6 their performance is not linked to the employed excitation or interrogation technique. 7 Therefore, due to its simplicity and low-cost, the intensityinterrogated SPR configuration is one of the most widely employed. Such configuration is based on measuring the intensity of the reflected p-polarized monochromatic light at a fixed angle of incidence.…”