# US 7,612,883 B2 · Dynamic plasmonics-enabled signal enhancement, a device comprising the same, and a method using the same

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- Number: US 7,612,883 B2
- Document ID: US7612883B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 11/749,950
- Filed: 2007-05-17
- Published: 2008-11-20
- Granted: 2009-11-03
- Earliest claimed: 2007-05-17
- Assignees: General Electric Company
- Inventors: Long Que; Jeffrey Bernard Fortin; Christopher Fred Keimel; Liming Yu; Zhiyong Wang
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US7612883B2

## CPC

- G01N 21/648: {using evanescent coupling or surface plasmon coupling for the excitation of fluorescence}
- B01L 3/502761: {specially adapted for handling suspended solids or molecules independently from the bulk fluid flow, e.g. for trapping or sorting beads or physically stretching molecules}
- B01L 3/5025: {for parallel transport of multiple samples}
- B01L 2300/0636: Integrated biosensor, microarrays
- B01L 2300/0654: Lenses; Optical fibres
- B01L 2300/0819: Microarrays; Biochips
- G01N: INVESTIGATING OR ANALYSING MATERIALS BY DETERMINING THEIR CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROPERTIES (measuring or testing apparatus or processes other than immunoassay, involving enzymes or microorganisms C12M, C12Q)
- B01L: CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL LABORATORY APPARATUS FOR GENERAL USE

## Abstract

Disclosed herein is a plasmonics platform comprising a substrate; a plurality of periodically spaced nanoholes and/or nanoparticles disposed upon the substrate; wherein the average first order of periodicity between the nanoholes and/or the nanoparticles is about 5 to about 1,000 nm; and a microelectromechanical and/or a nanoelectromechanical system in operative communication with the substrate so as to vary the average first order of periodicity between the nanoholes and/or the nanoparticles.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A plasmonics platform, comprising:
a substrate;
a plurality of periodically spaced nanoholes and/or nanoparticles disposed upon the substrate, wherein an average first order of periodicity between the nanoholes and/or the nanoparticles is about 5 to about 1,000 nanometers; and
a microelectromechanical and/or a nanoelectromechanical system in operative communication with the substrate for varying the average first order of periodicity between the nanoholes and/or the nanoparticles.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The platform of claim 1, wherein the substrate comprises a ferroelectric material.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The platform of claim 1, wherein the substrate comprises a ferroelectric ceramic material.

### Claim 4 (depends on 2)

The platform of claim 2, wherein the ferroelectric material comprises barium titanate, lead titanate, lead zirconate titanate, tri-glycine sulfate, guanidinium aluminum sulfate hexahydrate, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing ferroelectric materials.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The platform of claim 1, wherein the substrate comprises a thin film, a thick polycrystalline film, or a single crystal.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The platform of claim 1, wherein the substrate comprises a metal oxide.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The platform of claim 6, wherein the metal oxide is silicon dioxide, aluminum oxide, titanium oxide, zirconium oxide, cerium oxide, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing metal oxides.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The platform of claim 1, wherein the substrate comprises quartz.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The platform of claim 1, wherein the substrate comprises a metal film disposed upon the substrate.

### Claim 10 (depends on 8)

The platform of claim 8, wherein the metal film comprises gold, silver, platinum, palladium, lead, iron, nickel, copper, titanium, chromium, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing metals.

### Claim 11 (depends on 8)

The platform of claim 8, wherein the metal film comprises gold or silver.

### Claim 12 (depends on 1)

The platform of claim 1, wherein the nanoholes can have a cross-sectional area that is triangular, square, circular, rectangular, polygonal, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing geometries.

### Claim 13 (depends on 1)

The platform of claim 1, wherein the nanoparticles have a regular two-dimensional shape, wherein the two-dimensional shape is a square, a triangle, a circle, a rectangle, a polygon, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing two-dimensional shapes; or wherein the nanoparticles have a regular three-dimensional shape that is cuboid, pyramidal, a spherical, a hemispherical, fullerene, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing three-dimensional shapes.

### Claim 14 (depends on 1)

The platform of claim 1, wherein the microelectromechanical system and/or the nanoelectromechanical system is in thermal, mechanical, fluid, electrical, magnetic or electromagnetic communication with the plasmonics platform.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The platform of claim 14, wherein the microelectromechanical system and/or the nanoelectromechanical system comprises a piezoelectric crystal, and wherein an application of an electrical current to the piezoelectric crystal facilitates a change in the periodicity of the nanohole arrays or the periodicity of nanoparticles.

### Claim 16

A device, comprising:
a light source;
a plasmonics platform for receiving biomolecules whose structures are desired to be known, wherein the plasmonics platform comprises:
a substrate;
a plurality of periodically spaced nanoholes and/or nanoparticles disposed upon the substrate, wherein an average first order of periodicity between the nanoholes and/or the nanoparticles is about 5 to about 1,000 nanometers; and
a microelectromechanical and/or a nanoelectromechanical system in operative communication with the substrate for varying the average first order of periodicity between the nanoholes and/or the nanoparticles; and
a detector for receiving fluorescence generated by the biomolecules.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The device of claim 16, wherein the light source is a broadband source of light.

### Claim 18 (depends on 16)

The device of claim 16, wherein the light source is a gas discharge lamp, a gas arced pulsed lamp, an incandescent lamp, a light emitting diode, a laser diode, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing light sources.

### Claim 19 (depends on 18)

The device of claim 18, wherein the gas discharge lamps are mercury lamps, sodium vapor lamps, xenon lamps, mercury-xenon lamps, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing gas discharge lamps.

### Claim 20 (depends on 16)

The device of claim 16, wherein the microelectromechanical system and/or the nanoelectromechanical system is in thermal, mechanical, fluid, electrical, magnetic or electromagnetic communication with the plasmonics platform.

### Claim 21 (depends on 16)

The device of claim 16, comprising a band pass filter and/or a high pass filter.

### Claim 22 (depends on 16)

The device of claim 16, wherein the detector comprises a photomultiplier tube.

### Claim 23 (depends on 16)

The device of claim 16, wherein the plasmonics platform comprises a plurality of plasmonics platforms each one of which is in communication with a microfluidics device, and a digital video disk Demuxer.

### Claim 24

A method, comprising:
disposing an unknown specimen on a plasmonics platform, wherein the plasmonics platform comprises:
a substrate;
a plurality of periodically spaced nanoholes and/or nanoparticles disposed upon the substrate; wherein an average first order of periodicity between the nanoholes and/or the nanoparticles is about 5 to about 1,000 nanometers; and
a microelectromechanical and/or a nanoelectromechanical system in operative communication with the substrate for varying the average first order of periodicity between the nanoholes and/or the nanoparticles;
illuminating the plasmonics platform with a source light;
tuning the plasmonics platform by adjusting the average first order of periodicity between the nanoholes and/or the nanoparticles using the microelectromechanical and/or a nano electromechanical system;
producing surface plasmon resonance in the periodically spaced nanoholes and/or the nanoparticles disposed upon the substrate; and
producing fluorescence in the unknown specimen disposed upon the plasmonics platform.

### Claim 25 (depends on 24)

The method of claim 24, comprising receiving the fluorescence in a detector.