Why Plasmonics?
Modern and Efficient
Plasmonics is a major field in the label free molecular diagnostic studies where light matter interactions at nano-environments have given raise to insightful scientific explorations.
Surface Plasmon-Coupled Emission (SPCE)
SPCE is a novel technique that enhances the fluorescence from a radiating dipole, by coupling its emission with the surface plasmon of the metal thin film situated at a distance of 5-200 nm. This results in multi-fold increase in the fluorescence intensity, with high directionality and polarized emission. However, in conventional fluorescence technique, the sensitivity of the method is compromised on account of isotropic fluorescence emission, of which only 1% is captured. In contrast, SPCE platform presents 50% coupling of the emission with surface plasmons on the metal thin film with significant background suppression, spectral resolution and directionality leading to enhanced polarization of the emitted signal. These properties have resulted in the utility of this platform in different fields: single molecule detection, protein monolayer detection, ultrafast sensing, whole blood assay and study of muscle.
At STAR Lab
INNOVATION IS A NECESSITY
STAR laboratory at Central Research Instrumentation Facility (CRIF) has pioneered in this field with the utilization of 1-D & 2-D carbon substrates, cermet magnetic graphene nano-composites, DNA thin films, palladium-carbon plasmonic nano-cavities, nanovoids etc with new elucidations regarding SPCE along with mobile-phone based sensing platform.