Plasmonic vertical dimer arrays as elements for biosensing.

Localized surface plasmon resonances of metallic nanoparticles can be used for biosensing because of their sensitive dependence on the refractive index of the surrounding medium. The binding of molecules to the particles causes a change of the effective refractive index in their close vicinity, which leads to a reversible shift of the resonance. We present simulations and sensing experiments of a plasmon resonance based biosensor that makes use of the narrow antisymmetric resonance in coupled plasmonic vertical dimers.

Size does matter! Label-free detection of small molecule-protein interaction.

This review is focused on methods for detecting small molecules and, in particular, the characterisation of their interaction with natural proteins (e.g. receptors, ion channels).