Wafer-Scalable Fabrication of Metal Nanostructures for Plasmonics-Assisted Biomedical Sensing Applications

Author: Chang, Chieh-Feng

Year: 2015

Degree: Dissertation (Ph.D.)

Advisor: Scherer, Axel

Committee Members: Scherer, Axel; Rutledge, David B.; Yariv, Amnon; Fraser, Scott E.; Walavalkar, Sameer S.

Option: Electrical Engineering

DOI: 10.7907/Z9K935FM

Abstract

Plasmonics provides many opportunities of sensing and detection since it combines the nanoscale spatial confinement and the optical temporal resolution. The wireless nature of photonic investigation, moreover, is very desirable for biomedical applications. Plasmonic metals, however, are difficult to pattern with great nanoscopic precision, and traditional approaches were time-consuming, non-scalable, stochastically-manufactured, or highly-limiting in the pattern designs. In this work, wafer-scalable nanofabrication methods are presented for various plasmonic structures for biomedical sensing applications. The fabrication steps have ready counterparts in commercial semiconductor foundries and therefore can be directly applied for mass production.

The fabrication and measurement of extraordinary transmission (EOT) are discussed in Chapter 2. Fabrication options are available for substrates like silicon-on-sapphire and silicon-on-glass, so that the devices can be mechanically robust for user-friendliness. The metal layer can also be varied for EOT applications in different ranges of wavelengths. The EOT nanostructures can be fabricated to be polarization-sensitive, and the concept of fluorescence-based EOT assays is demonstrated.

The fabrication and applications of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) are then discussed. With a hybrid approach, the top-down designing defines uniform SERS nanostructures on a chip, while the bottom-up process of thermal reflow increases the fabrication precision beyond the lithography resolution limit. Based on the thiophenol study, an enhancement factor greater than 1010 can be achieved. The first Raman spectrum of tracheal cytotoxin is demonstrated without any special sample preparation, and thrombin binding could be easily resolved through chip functionalization. The binding dynamics of ethyl mercaptan, which is similar to the highly toxic gas of hydrogen sulfide, can be detected with a good resolution in time at a low concentration.

With a few more steps of fabrication, the plasmonic structures can be integrated into systems that do not call for laboratory infrastructures. A built-in micro-channel on a chip can make the device useful without dedicated support of a microscope or additional microfluidic structures. The nanostructures can also be transferred onto flexible substrates for better conformity onto various surfaces. Finally, the SERS structures can be transferred onto a fiber tip for in-field or through-the-needle applications, especially when combined with a portable Raman-scope.

Files