Abstract
Metallic wires can discriminate light polarization due to strong absorption of electric fields oscillating in parallel to wires. Here, we explore polarization-based biosensing of DNA hybridization in situ by employing metal targetconjugated nanoparticles to form a wire-grid polarizer (WGP) as complementary DNA strands hybridize. Experimental results using gold nanoparticles of 15 nm diameter to form a WGP of 400 nm period suggest that polarization extinction can detect DNA hybridization with a limit of detection in the range of 1 nM concentration. The sensitivity may be improved by more than an order of magnitude if larger nanoparticles are employed to define WGPs at a period between 400 and 500 nm.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 3867-3869 |
Number of pages | 3 |
Journal | Optics Letters |
Volume | 37 |
Issue number | 18 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2012 Sep 15 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics