Nano Sensing and Energy Conversion Using Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR)

• Main Authors: Iltai (Isaac) Kim, Kenneth David Kihm
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2015-07-01
• Series: Materials
• Subjects: surface plasmon resonance (SPR); nanophotonics; sensing; energy conversion
• Online Access: http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1944/8/7/4332

Nanophotonic technique has been attracting much attention in applications of nano-bio-chemical sensing and energy conversion of solar energy harvesting and enhanced energy transfer. One approach for nano-bio-chemical sensing is surface plasmon resonance (SPR) imaging, which can detect the material properties, such as density, ion concentration, temperature, and effective refractive index in high sensitivity, label-free, and real-time under ambient conditions. Recent study shows that SPR can successfully detect the concentration variation of nanofluids during evaporation-induced self-assembly process. Spoof surface plasmon resonance based on multilayer metallo-dielectric hyperbolic metamaterials demonstrate SPR dispersion control, which can be combined with SPR imaging, to characterize high refractive index materials because of its exotic optical properties. Furthermore, nano-biophotonics could enable innovative energy conversion such as the increase of absorption and emission efficiency and the perfect absorption. Localized SPR using metal nanoparticles show highly enhanced absorption in solar energy harvesting. Three-dimensional hyperbolic metamaterial cavity nanostructure shows enhanced spontaneous emission. Recently ultrathin film perfect absorber is demonstrated with the film thickness is as low as ~1/50th of the operating wavelength using epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) phenomena at the wavelength close to SPR. It is expected to provide a breakthrough in sensing and energy conversion applications using the exotic optical properties based on the nanophotonic technique.