Patterned Plasmonic Surfaces-Theory, Fabrication, and Applications in Biosensing

Low-profile patterned plasmonic surfaces are synergized with a broad class of silicon microstructures to greatly enhance near-field nanoscale imaging, sensing, and energy harvesting coupled with far-field free-space detection. This concept has a clear impact on several key areas of interest for the microelectromechanical systems community, including but not limited to ultra-compact microsystems for sensitive detection of small number of target molecules, and surface devices for optical data storage, micro-imaging, and displaying. In this paper, we review the current state-of-the-art in plasmonic theory, as well as derive design guidance for plasmonic integration with microsystems, fabrication techniques, and selected applications in biosensing, including refractive-index based label-free biosensing, plasmonic integrated lab-on-chip systems, plasmonic near-field scanning optical microscopy, and plasmonics on-chip systems for cellular imaging. This paradigm enables low-profile conformal surfaces on microdevices, rather than bulk material or coatings, which provide clear advantages for physical, chemical, and biological-related sensing, imaging, and light harvesting, in addition to easier realization, enhanced flexibility, and tunability.