Research Article

Hyperbolic metamaterials-based plasmonic biosensor for fluid biopsy with single molecule sensitivity

¹ Department of Physics, Case Western Reserve University, 10600 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
² Case Biomanufacturing and Microfabrication Laboratory, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
³ Biomedical Engineering Department, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
⁴ Department of Orthopedics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
⁵ Advanced Platform Technology Center, Louis Stokes Cleveland Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
⁶ CNR-NANOTEC Istituto di Nanotecnologia and Department of Physics, University of Calabria, 87036 Rende, Italy
⁷ Case Comprehensive Cancer Center, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH 44106, USA
⁸ IIT, Italian Institute of Technology, Via Morego, 30, 16163 Genova, Italy

^* e-mail: giuseppe.strangi@case.edu

Received: 13 September 2016
Accepted: 31 October 2016
Published online: 13 January 2017

Abstract

Plasmonic sensors are one of the most powerful optical biosensors, which can be used for the detection of small numbers of molecules at ultra-low concentrations. However, the detection of dilute analytes of low molecular weight (<500 Da) is still a challenging task using currently available plasmonic biosensors. Here, we demonstrate the detection of both lower and heavier molecular weight biomolecules close to single molecule level using a novel plasmonic biosensor platform based on hyperbolic metamaterials. We show experimentally the extraordinary spectral and angular sensitivities of the biosensor platform, from visible to near infrared (NIR) wavelengths, by exciting the bulk plasmon polaritons associated with hyperbolic metamaterials.