Coupled surface plasmon resonance on bimetallic films covered by sub-micrometer polymer gratings

Angular interrogation investigation of the rotated grating-coupled surface plasmon resonance was performed, via exciting plasmons on special sensing layers by a frequency doubled continuous Nd:Yag laser beam in Kretschmann arrangement. NBK7 glass substrates were evaporated by silver and gold layers having appropriate thicknesses to ensure a narrow plasmon resonance peak. Thin poly-carbonate films spin-coated onto the bimetallic layers were patterned by the fourth harmonic of a pulsed mode Nd:Yag laser applying a master grating-based interference method. The pulsed force mode atomic force microscopic investigation has shown the existence of a surface relief grating and a coexistent adhesion modulation having a period of 416 nm. The conditions of the grating-coupling effect were determined for shallow sub-micrometer polymer gratings, and secondary minima were detected on the resonance curves measured in presence of polymer patterns, according to the calculations. The indispensability of a minimal modulation amplitude and the existence of an optimal rotation angle of the grating grooves with respect to the plasmon propagation direction were experimentally proven. The position of the emerged secondary resonance minimum indicated that the average film thickness was decreased caused by material removal during the structure formation. It was shown by tapping-mode AFM that the sub-micrometer adhesion modulation resulted in periodic adherence of streptavidin in the structure’s valleys. The attachment of a small amount of protein was detected based on the shift of the secondary resonance peak. The capability of the polymer grating for sensitivity enhancement was demonstrated, proving that the secondary peak shift is highly sensitive to the protein concentration. The application of the polymer grating covered bimetallic films as transducing layers in novel bio-sensorization method based on rotated grating coupling is proposed.