Hybrid localized surface plasmon resonance and quartz crystal microbalance sensor for label free biosensing

- We hybridised a LSPR and QCM sensor that simultaneously records the optical and acoustic signal in real time for a given surface adsorption process to eliminate the variations of the experimental conditions.
- We detailed the design and simulation of the hybridised LSPR and QCM device and experimentally assess its performance. The experimental data match well with the simulations, further proving the design concept.
- We used the hybridised chip in a biologically relevant immunoassay showing its potential for practical biosensing.
- Our technology provides a miniaturized dual sensor platform for simultaneous measurement that is compatible with incorporation into future point-of-care and portable devices.

We report on the design and fabrication of a hybrid sensor that integrates transmission-mode localized surface plasmonic resonance (LSPR) into a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) for studying biochemical surface reactions. The coupling of LSPR nanostructures and a QCM allows optical spectra and QCM resonant frequency shifts to be recorded simultaneously and analyzed in real time for a given surface adsorption process. This integration simplifies the conventional combination of SPR and QCM and has the potential to be miniaturized for application in point-of-care (POC) diagnostics. The influence of antibody-antigen recognition effect on both the QCM and LSPR has been analyzed and discussed.