Real-Time In Situ Secondary Structure Analysis of Protein Monolayer with Mid-Infrared Plasmonic Nanoantennas

Advancements and Perspectives in Optical Biosensors

Optical biosensors exhibit immense potential, offering extraordinary possibilities for biosensing due to their high sensitivity, reusability, and ultrafast sensing capabilities. This review provides a concise overview of optical biosensors, encompassing various platforms, operational mechanisms, and underlying physics, and it summarizes recent advancements in the field. Special attention is given to plasmonic biosensors and metasurface-based biosensors, emphasizing their significant performance in bioassays and, thus, their increasing attraction in biosensing research, positioning them as excellent candidates for lab-on-chip and point-of-care devices. For plasmonic biosensors, we emphasize surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and its subcategories, along with localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) devices and surface enhance Raman spectroscopy (SERS), highlighting their ability to perform diverse bioassays. Additionally, we discuss recently emerged metasurface-based biosensors. Toward the conclusion of this review, we address current challenges, opportunities, and prospects in optical biosensing. Considering the advancements and advantages presented by optical biosensors, it is foreseeable that they will become a robust and widespread platform for early disease diagnostics.

Advanced Terahertz Refractive Sensing And Fingerprint Recognition Through Metasurface-Excited Surface Waves

High-sensitive metasurface-based sensors are essential for effective substance detection and insightful bio-interaction studies, which compress light in subwavelength volumes to enhance light-matter interactions. However, current methods to improve sensing performance always focus on optimizing near-field response of individual meta-atom, and fingerprint recognition for bio-substances necessitates several pixelated metasurfaces to establish a quasi-continuous spectrum. Here, a novel sensing strategy is proposed to achieve Terahertz (THz) refractive sensing, and fingerprint recognition based on surface waves (SWs). Leveraging the long-range transmission, strong confinement, and interface sensitivity of SWs, a metasurface-supporting SWs excitation and propagation is experimentally verified to achieve sensing integrations. Through wide-band information collection of SWs, the proposed sensor not only facilitates refractive sensing up to 215.5°/RIU, but also enables the simultaneous resolution of multiple fingerprint information within a continuous spectrum. By covering 5 µm thickness of polyimide, quartz and silicon nitride layers, the maximum phase change of 91.1°, 101.8°, and 126.4° is experimentally obtained within THz band, respectively. Thus, this strategy broadens the research scope of metasurface-excited SWs and introduces a novel paradigm for ultrasensitive sensing functions.

Hot-Electron Dynamics Mediated Medical Diagnosis and Therapy

Surface plasmon resonance excitation significantly enhances the absorption of light and increases the generation of "hot" electrons, i.e., conducting electrons that are raised from their steady states to excited states. These excited electrons rapidly decay and equilibrate via radiative and nonradiative damping over several hundred femtoseconds. During the hot-electron dynamics, from their generation to the ultimate nonradiative decay, the electromagnetic field enhancement, hot electron density increase, and local heating effect are sequentially induced. Over the past decade, these physical phenomena have attracted considerable attention in the biomedical field, e.g., the rapid and accurate identification of biomolecules, precise synthesis and release of drugs, and elimination of tumors. This review highlights the recent developments in the application of hot-electron dynamics in medical diagnosis and therapy, particularly fully integrated device techniques with good application prospects. In addition, we discuss the latest experimental and theoretical studies of underlying mechanisms. From a practical standpoint, the pioneering modeling analyses and quantitative measurements in the extreme near field are summarized to illustrate the quantification of hot-electron dynamics. Finally, the prospects and remaining challenges associated with biomedical engineering based on hot-electron dynamics are presented.

Research Progress in Surface-Enhanced Infrared Absorption Spectroscopy: From Performance Optimization, Sensing Applications, to System Integration

Infrared absorption spectroscopy is an effective tool for the detection and identification of molecules. However, its application is limited by the low infrared absorption cross-section of the molecule, resulting in low sensitivity and a poor signal-to-noise ratio. Surface-Enhanced Infrared Absorption (SEIRA) spectroscopy is a breakthrough technique that exploits the field-enhancing properties of periodic nanostructures to amplify the vibrational signals of trace molecules. The fascinating properties of SEIRA technology have aroused great interest, driving diverse sensing applications. In this review, we first discuss three ways for SEIRA performance optimization, including material selection, sensitivity enhancement, and bandwidth improvement. Subsequently, we discuss the potential applications of SEIRA technology in fields such as biomedicine and environmental monitoring. In recent years, we have ushered in a new era characterized by the Internet of Things, sensor networks, and wearable devices. These new demands spurred the pursuit of miniaturized and consolidated infrared spectroscopy systems and chips. In addition, the rise of machine learning has injected new vitality into SEIRA, bringing smart device design and data analysis to the foreground. The final section of this review explores the anticipated trajectory that SEIRA technology might take, highlighting future trends and possibilities.

Metasurface-Enhanced Infrared Spectroscopy: An Abundance of Materials and Functionalities

Infrared spectroscopy provides unique information on the composition and dynamics of biochemical systems by resolving the characteristic absorption fingerprints of their constituent molecules. Based on this inherent chemical specificity and the capability for label-free, noninvasive, and real-time detection, infrared spectroscopy approaches have unlocked a plethora of breakthrough applications for fields ranging from environmental monitoring and defense to chemical analysis and medical diagnostics. Nanophotonics has played a crucial role for pushing the sensitivity limits of traditional far-field spectroscopy by using resonant nanostructures to focus the incident light into nanoscale hot-spots of the electromagnetic field, greatly enhancing light-matter interaction. Metasurfaces composed of regular arrangements of such resonators further increase the design space for tailoring this nanoscale light control both spectrally and spatially, which has established them as an invaluable toolkit for surface-enhanced spectroscopy. Starting from the fundamental concepts of metasurface-enhanced infrared spectroscopy, a broad palette of resonator geometries, materials, and arrangements for realizing highly sensitive metadevices is showcased, with a special focus on emerging systems such as phononic and 2D van der Waals materials, and integration with waveguides for lab-on-a-chip devices. Furthermore, advanced sensor functionalities of metasurface-based infrared spectroscopy, including multiresonance, tunability, dielectrophoresis, live cell sensing, and machine-learning-aided analysis are highlighted.

Artificial intelligence-coupled plasmonic infrared sensor for detection of structural protein biomarkers in neurodegenerative diseases

Diagnosis of neurodegenerative disorders (NDDs) including Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease is challenging owing to the lack of tools to detect preclinical biomarkers. The misfolding of proteins into oligomeric and fibrillar aggregates plays an important role in the development and progression of NDDs, thus underscoring the need for structural biomarker-based diagnostics. We developed an immunoassay-coupled nanoplasmonic infrared metasurface sensor that detects proteins linked to NDDs, such as alpha-synuclein, with specificity and differentiates the distinct structural species using their unique absorption signatures. We augmented the sensor with an artificial neural network enabling unprecedented quantitative prediction of oligomeric and fibrillar protein aggregates in their mixture. The microfluidic integrated sensor can retrieve time-resolved absorbance fingerprints in the presence of a complex biomatrix and is capable of multiplexing for the simultaneous monitoring of multiple pathology-associated biomarkers. Thus, our sensor is a promising candidate for the clinical diagnosis of NDDs, disease monitoring, and evaluation of novel therapies.

Single-cell infrared vibrational analysis by optical trapping mid-infrared photothermal microscopy

Single-cell analysis by means of vibrational spectroscopy combined with optical trapping is a reliable platform for unveiling cell-to-cell heterogeneities in vast populations. Although infrared (IR) vibrational spectroscopy provides rich molecular fingerprint information on biological samples in a label-free manner, its application with optical trapping has never been achieved due to weak gradient forces generated by the diffraction-limited focused IR beam and strong background of water absorption. Herein, we present single-cell IR vibrational analysis that incorporates mid-infrared photothermal (MIP) microscopy with optical trapping. Optically trapped single polymer particles and red blood cells (RBCs) in blood could be chemically identified owing to their IR vibrational fingerprints. This single-cell IR vibrational analysis further allowed us to probe the chemical heterogeneities of RBCs originating from the variation in the intracellular characteristics. Our demonstration paves the way for the IR vibrational analysis of single cells and chemical characterization in various fields.

Towards multi-molecular surface-enhanced infrared absorption using metal plasmonics

Surface-enhanced infrared absorption (SEIRA) leads to a largely improved detection of polar molecules, compared to standard infrared absorption. The enhancement principle is based on localized surface plasmon resonances of the substrate, which match the frequency of molecular vibrations in the analyte of interest. Therefore, in practical terms, the SEIRA sensor needs to be tailored to each specific analyte. We review SEIRA sensors based on metal plasmonics for the detection of biomolecules such as DNA, proteins, and lipids. We further focus this review on chemical SEIRA sensors, with potential applications in quality control, as well as on the improvement in sensor geometry that led to the development of multiresonant SEIRA substrates as sensors for multiple analytes. Finally, we give an introduction into the integration of SEIRA sensors with surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS).

Giant mid-IR resonant coupling to molecular vibrations in sub-nm gaps of plasmonic multilayer metafilms

Nanomaterials capable of confining light are desirable for enhancing spectroscopies such as Raman scattering, infrared absorption, and nonlinear optical processes. Plasmonic superlattices have shown the ability to host collective resonances in the mid-infrared, but require stringent fabrication processes to create well-ordered structures. Here, we demonstrate how short-range-ordered Au nanoparticle multilayers on a mirror, self-assembled by a sub-nm molecular spacer, support collective plasmon-polariton resonances in the visible and infrared, continuously tunable beyond 11 µm by simply varying the nanoparticle size and number of layers. The resulting molecule-plasmon system approaches vibrational strong coupling, and displays giant Fano dip strengths, SEIRA enhancement factors ~ 10⁶, light-matter coupling strengths g ~ 100 cm^-1, Purcell factors ~ 10⁶, and mode volume compression factors ~ 10⁸. The collective plasmon-polariton mode is highly robust to nanoparticle vacancy disorder and is sustained by the consistent gap size defined by the molecular spacer. Structural disorder efficiently couples light into the gaps between the multilayers and mirror, enabling Raman and infrared sensing of sub-picolitre sample volumes.

High-sensitivity hyperspectral vibrational imaging of heart tissues by mid-infrared photothermal microscopy

Visualizing the spatial distribution of chemical compositions in biological tissues is of great importance to study fundamental biological processes and origin of diseases. Raman microscopy, one of the label-free vibrational imaging techniques, has been employed for chemical characterization of tissues. However, the low sensitivity of Raman spectroscopy often requires a long acquisition time of Raman measurement or a high laser power, or both, which prevents one from investigating large-area tissues in a nondestructive manner. In this work, we demonstrated chemical imaging of heart tissues using mid-infrared photothermal (MIP) microscopy that simultaneously achieves the high sensitivity benefited from IR absorption of molecules and the high spatial resolution down to a few micrometers. We successfully visualized the distributions of different biomolecules, including proteins, phosphate-including proteins, and lipids/carbohydrates/amino acids. Further, we experimentally compared MIP microscopy with Raman microscopy to evaluate the sensitivity and photodamage to tissues. We proved that MIP microscopy is a highly sensitive technique for obtaining vibrational information of molecules in a broad fingerprint region, thereby it could be employed for biological and diagnostic applications, such as live-tissue imaging.

Opportunities and challenges of alpha-synuclein as a potential biomarker for Parkinson's disease and other synucleinopathies

Parkinson’s disease (PD), the second most common progressive neurodegenerative disease, develops and progresses for 10–15 years before the clinical diagnostic symptoms of the disease are manifested. Furthermore, several aspects of PD pathology overlap with other neurodegenerative diseases (NDDs) linked to alpha-synuclein (aSyn) aggregation, also called synucleinopathies. Therefore, there is an urgent need to discover and validate early diagnostic and prognostic markers that reflect disease pathophysiology, progression, severity, and potential differences in disease mechanisms between PD and other NDDs. The close association between aSyn and the development of pathology in synucleinopathies, along with the identification of aSyn species in biological fluids, has led to increasing interest in aSyn species as potential biomarkers for early diagnosis of PD and differentiate it from other synucleinopathies. In this review, we (1) provide an overview of the progress toward mapping the distribution of aSyn species in the brain, peripheral tissues, and biological fluids; (2) present comparative and critical analysis of previous studies that measured total aSyn as well as other species such as modified and aggregated forms of aSyn in different biological fluids; and (3) highlight conceptual and technical gaps and challenges that could hinder the development and validation of reliable aSyn biomarkers; and (4) outline a series of recommendations to address these challenges. Finally, we propose a combined biomarker approach based on integrating biochemical, aggregation and structure features of aSyn, in addition to other biomarkers of neurodegeneration. We believe that capturing the diversity of aSyn species is essential to develop robust assays and diagnostics for early detection, patient stratification, monitoring of disease progression, and differentiation between synucleinopathies. This could transform clinical trial design and implementation, accelerate the development of new therapies, and improve clinical decisions and treatment strategies.

Ultrasensitive Mid-Infrared Biosensing in Aqueous Solutions with Graphene Plasmons

Identifying nanoscale biomolecules in aqueous solutions by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) provides an in situ and noninvasive method for exploring the structure, reactions, and transport of biologically active molecules. However, this remains a challenge due to the strong and broad IR absorption of water which overwhelms the respective vibrational fingerprints of the biomolecules. In this work, a tunable IR transparent microfluidic system with graphene plasmons is exploited to identify ≈2 nm-thick proteins in physiological conditions. The acquired in situ tunability makes it possible to eliminate the IR absorption of water outside the graphene plasmonic hotspots by background subtraction. Most importantly, the ultrahigh confinement of graphene plasmons (confined to ≈15 nm) permits the implementation of nanoscale sensitivity. Then, the deuterium effects on monolayer proteins are characterized within an aqueous solution. The tunable graphene-plasmon-enhanced FTIR technology provides a novel platform for studying biological processes in an aqueous solution at the nanoscale.

Artificial Intelligence in Meta-optics

Recent years have witnessed promising artificial intelligence (AI) applications in many disciplines, including optics, engineering, medicine, economics, and education. In particular, the synergy of AI and meta-optics has greatly benefited both fields. Meta-optics are advanced flat optics with novel functions and light-manipulation abilities. The optical properties can be engineered with a unique design to meet various optical demands. This review offers comprehensive coverage of meta-optics and artificial intelligence in synergy. After providing an overview of AI and meta-optics, we categorize and discuss the recent developments integrated by these two topics, namely AI for meta-optics and meta-optics for AI. The former describes how to apply AI to the research of meta-optics for design, simulation, optical information analysis, and application. The latter reports the development of the optical Al system and computation via meta-optics. This review will also provide an in-depth discussion of the challenges of this interdisciplinary field and indicate future directions. We expect that this review will inspire researchers in these fields and benefit the next generation of intelligent optical device design.

Advances and applications of nanophotonic biosensors

Nanophotonic devices, which control light in subwavelength volumes and enhance light-matter interactions, have opened up exciting prospects for biosensing. Numerous nanophotonic biosensors have emerged to address the limitations of the current bioanalytical methods in terms of sensitivity, throughput, ease-of-use and miniaturization. In this Review, we provide an overview of the recent developments of label-free nanophotonic biosensors using evanescent-field-based sensing with plasmon resonances in metals and Mie resonances in dielectrics. We highlight the prospects of achieving an improved sensor performance and added functionalities by leveraging nanostructures and on-chip and optoelectronic integration, as well as microfluidics, biochemistry and data science toolkits. We also discuss open challenges in nanophotonic biosensing, such as reducing the overall cost and handling of complex biological samples, and provide an outlook for future opportunities to improve these technologies and thereby increase their impact in terms of improving health and safety.

Plasmonic Resonant Nanoantennas Induce Changes in the Shape and the Intensity of Infrared Spectra of Phospholipids

Surface enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopic studies (SEIRAS) as a technique to study biological molecules in extremely low concentrations is greatly evolving. In order to use the technique for identification of the structure and interactions of such biological molecules, it is necessary to identify the effects of the plasmonic electric-field enhancement on the spectral signature. In this study the spectral properties of 1,2-Dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3 phosphothioethanol (DPPTE) phospholipid immobilized on gold nanoantennas, specifically designed to enhance the vibrational fingerprints of lipid molecules were studied. An AFM study demonstrates an organization of the DPPTE phospholipid in bilayers on the nanoantenna structure. The spectral data were compared to SEIRAS active gold surfaces based on nanoparticles, plain gold and plain substrate (Si) for different temperatures. The shape of the infrared signals, the peak positions and their relative intensities were found to be sensitive to the type of surface and the presence of an enhancement. The strongest shifts in position and intensity were seen for the nanoantennas, and a smaller effect was seen for the DPPTE immobilized on gold nanoparticles. This information is crucial for interpretation of data obtained for biological molecules measured on such structures, for future application in nanodevices for biologically or medically relevant samples.

Plasmonic Biosensor Augmented by a Genetic Algorithm for Ultra-Rapid, Label-Free, and Multi-Functional Detection of COVID-19

The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is spreading globally due to its super contagiousness, and the pandemic caused by it has caused serious damage to the health and social economy of all countries in the world. However, conventional diagnostic methods are not conducive to large-scale screening and early identification of infected persons due to their long detection time. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a new COVID-19 test method that can deliver results in real time and on-site. In this work, we develop a fast, ultra-sensitive, and multi-functional plasmonic biosensor based on surface-enhanced infrared absorption for COVID-19 on-site diagnosis. The genetic algorithm intelligent program is utilized to automatically design and quickly optimize the sensing device to enhance the sensing performance. As a result, the quantitative detection of COVID-19 with an ultra-high sensitivity (1.66%/nm), a wide detection range, and a diverse measurement environment (gas/liquid) is achieved. In addition, the unique infrared fingerprint recognition characteristics of the sensor also make it an ideal choice for mutant virus screening. This work can not only provide a powerful diagnostic tool for the ultra-rapid, label-free, and multi-functional detection of COVID-19 but also help gain new insights into the field of label-free and ultrasensitive biosensing.

Measuring the Multiscale Dynamics, Structure, and Function of Biomolecules at Interfaces

The individual and collective structure and properties of biomolecules can change dramatically when they are localized at an interface. However, the small spatial extent of interfacial regions poses challenges to the detailed characterization of multiscale processes that dictate the structure and function of large biological units such as peptides, proteins, or nucleic acids. This Perspective surveys a broad set of tools that provide new opportunities to probe complex, dynamic interfaces across the vast range of temporal regimes that connect molecular-scale events to macroscopic observables. An emphasis is placed on the integration over multiple time scales, the use of complementary techniques, and the incorporation of external stimuli to control interfacial properties with spatial, temporal, and chemical specificity.

Infrared Metasurface Augmented by Deep Learning for Monitoring Dynamics between All Major Classes of Biomolecules

Insights into the fascinating molecular world of biological processes are crucial for understanding diseases, developing diagnostics, and effective therapeutics. These processes are complex as they involve interactions between four major classes of biomolecules, i.e., proteins, nucleic acids, carbohydrates, and lipids, which makes it important to be able to discriminate between all these different biomolecular species. In this work, a deep learning-augmented, chemically-specific nanoplasmonic technique that enables such a feat in a label-free manner to not disrupt native processes is presented. The method uses a highly sensitive multiresonant plasmonic metasurface in a microfluidic device, which enhances infrared absorption across a broadband mid-IR spectrum and in water, despite its strongly overlapping absorption bands. The real-time format of the optofluidic method enables the collection of a vast amount of spectrotemporal data, which allows the construction of a deep neural network to discriminate accurately between all major classes of biomolecules. The capabilities of the new method are demonstrated by monitoring of a multistep bioassay containing sucrose- and nucleotides-loaded liposomes interacting with a small, lipid membrane-perforating peptide. It is envisioned that the presented technology will impact the fields of biology, bioanalytics, and pharmacology from fundamental research and disease diagnostics to drug development.

Three-Dimensional Interfacing of Cells with Hierarchical Silicon Nano/Microstructures for Midinfrared Interrogation of In Situ Captured Proteins

Label-free optical detection of biomolecules is currently limited by a lack of specificity rather than sensitivity. To exploit the much more characteristic refractive index dispersion in the mid-infrared (IR) regime, we have engineered three-dimensional IR-resonant silicon micropillar arrays (Si-MPAs) for protein sensing. By exploiting the unique hierarchical nano- and microstructured design of these Si-MPAs attained by CMOS-compatible silicon-based microfabrication processes, we achieved an optimized interrogation of surface protein binding. Based on spatially resolved surface functionalization, we demonstrate controlled three-dimensional interfacing of mammalian cells with Si-MPAs. Spatially controlled surface functionalization for site-specific protein immobilization enabled efficient targeting of soluble and membrane proteins into sensing hotspots directly from cells cultured on Si-MPAs. Protein binding to Si-MPA hotspots at submonolayer level was unambiguously detected by conventional Fourier transform IR spectroscopy. The compatibility with cost-effective CMOS-based microfabrication techniques readily allows integration of this novel IR transducer into fully fledged bioanalytical microdevices for selective and sensitive protein sensing.

Hybrid Metal-Dielectric Metasurfaces for Refractive Index Sensing

Hybrid metal-dielectric nanostructures have recently gained prominence because they combine strong field enhancement of plasmonic metals and the several low-loss radiation channels of dielectric resonators, which are qualities pertaining to the best of both worlds. In this work, an array of such hybrid nanoantennas is successfully fabricated over a large area and utilized for bulk refractive index sensing with a sensitivity of 208 nm/RIU. Each nanoantenna combines a Si cylinder with an Al disk, separated by a SiO₂ spacer. Its optical response is analyzed in detail using the multipoles supported by its subparts and their mutual coupling. The nanoantenna is further modified experimentally with an undercut in the SiO₂ region to increase the interaction of the electric field with the background medium, which augments the sensitivity to 245 nm/RIU. A detailed multipole analysis of the hybrid nanoantenna supports our experimental findings.

Infrared Scattering-Type Scanning Near-Field Optical Microscopy of Biomembranes in Water

Infrared (IR) absorption spectroscopy detects the state and chemical composition of biomolecules solely by their inherent vibrational fingerprints. Major disadvantages like the lack of spatial resolution and sensitivity have lately been overcome by the use of pointed probes as local sensors enabling the detection of quantities as few as hundreds of proteins with nanometer precision. However, the strong absorption of infrared radiation by liquid water still prevents simple access to the measured quantity: the light scattered at the probing atomic force microscope tip. Here we report on the local IR response of biological membranes immersed in aqueous bulk solution. We make use of a silicon solid immersion lens as the substrate and focusing optics to achieve detection efficiencies sufficient to yield IR near-field maps of purple membranes. Finally, we suggest a means to improve the imaging quality by tracing the tip by a laser-scanning approach.

Following the Chemical Immobilization of Membrane Proteins on Plasmonic Nanoantennas Using Infrared Spectroscopy

Plasmonic nanoantennas are promising sensing platforms for detecting chemical and biological molecules in the infrared region. However, integrating fragile biological molecules such as proteins on plasmonic nanoantennas is an essential requirement in the detection procedure. It is crucial to preserve the structural integrity and functionality of proteins while attaching them. In this study, we attached lactose permease, a large membrane protein, onto plasmonic nanoantennas by means of the nickel-nitrile triacetic acid immobilization technique. We followed the individual steps of the immobilization procedure for different lengths of the nanoantennas. The impact of varying the length of the nanoantennas on the shape of the vibrational signal of the chemical layers and on the protein spectrum was studied. We showed that these large proteins are successfully attached onto the nanoantennas, while the chemical spectra of the immobilization monolayers show a shape deformation which is an effect of the coupling between the vibrational mode and the plasmonic resonance.

Infrared spectroscopy of live cells from a flowing solution using electrically-biased plasmonic metasurfaces

Spectral cytopathology (SCP) is a promising label-free technique for diagnosing diseases and monitoring therapeutic outcomes using FTIR spectroscopy. In most cases, cells must be immobilized on a substrate prior to spectroscopic interrogation. This creates significant limitations for high throughput phenotypic whole-cell analysis, especially for the non-adherent cells. Here we demonstrate how metasurface-enhanced infrared reflection spectroscopy (MEIRS) can be applied to a continuous flow of live cell solution by applying AC voltage to metallic metasurfaces. By integrating metasurfaces with microfluidic delivery channels and attracting the cells to the metasurface via dielectrophoretic (DEP) force, we collect the infrared spectra of cells in real time within a minute, and correlate the spectra with simultaneously acquired images of the attracted cells. The resulting DEP-MEIRS technique paves the way for rapid SCP of complex cell-containing body fluids with low cell concentrations, and for the development of a wide range of label-free liquid biopsies.

In Liquid Infrared Scattering Scanning Near-Field Optical Microscopy for Chemical and Biological Nanoimaging

Imaging biological systems with simultaneous intrinsic chemical specificity and nanometer spatial resolution in their typical native liquid environment has remained a long-standing challenge. Here, we demonstrate a general approach of chemical nanoimaging in liquid based on infrared scattering scanning near-field optical microscopy (IR s-SNOM). It is enabled by combining AFM operation in a fluid cell with evanescent IR illumination via total internal reflection, which provides spatially confined excitation for minimized IR water absorption, reduced far-field background, and enhanced directional signal emission and sensitivity. We demonstrate in-liquid IR s-SNOM vibrational nanoimaging and conformational identification of catalase nanocrystals and spatio-spectral analysis of biomimetic peptoid sheets with monolayer sensitivity and chemical specificity at the few zeptomole level. This work establishes the principles of in-liquid and in situ IR s-SNOM spectroscopic chemical nanoimaging and its general applicability to biomolecular, cellular, catalytic, electrochemical, or other interfaces and nanosystems in liquids or solutions.

Antenna array-enhanced attenuated total reflection IR analysis in an aqueous solution

Attenuated total reflection surface-enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy (ATR-SEIRAS) is a powerful technique that provides structural and functional information during dynamic reactions in aqueous solutions. One existing limitation is the sensitivity to extract the signals of trace-level analytes from the background water in situ and in real time. Here, we proposed a novel ATR-SEIRAS platform that integrated a large-scale triangle gold antenna array onto a conventional ATR-IR platform to increase the sensitivity of this analytical technique. A square centimeter level well-ordered gold antenna array was fabricated onto an Si prism via nanosphere lithography. The size-dependent antenna array resonance had weak correlation with the incident polarization and antenna orientation, allowing antenna array-enhanced IR detection without the requirement of a microscope. In addition, the antenna resonance shift that occurred due to analyte adsorption-induced refractive index variation could be minimized benefiting from the high refractive index of Si (3.4). As a demonstration, we dynamically monitored the adsorption of the trace levels of proteins on top of the antenna array with a real signal enhancement factor larger than 300. Our platform opens an avenue to apply antenna array-enhanced IR spectroscopy in an aqueous environment measured via commercial IR instruments, which is extremely promising for the interfacial applications that require signal enhancement.

Nanophotonic Metasurfaces for Biosensing and Imaging

Nanophotonics excels at confining light into nanoscale optical mode volumes and generating dramatically enhanced light matter interactions. These unique aspects have been unveiling a plethora of fundamentally new optical phenomena, yet a critical issue ahead for nanophotonics is the development of novel devices and applications that can take advantage of these nano-scale effects. It is expected that nanophotonics will lead to disruptive technologies in energy harvesting, quantum and integrated photonics, optical computing and including biosensing. To this end, our research is focused on the application of nanophotonics to introduce powerful biosensors that can have impact on a wide range of areas including basic research in life sciences, early disease diagnostics, safety and point-of-care testing. In particular, we exploit nanophotonics and its integration with microfluidics to address key challenges of current biosensors and develop devices that can enable label-free, ultra-sensitive, multiplexed, rapid and real-time measurements on biomolecules, pathogens and living systems. In this talk I will present some of our recent work on nanophotonic meta surfaces for biosensing and bioimaging as well as their applications in real-world settings.

Resonant Plasmonic Nanoslits Enable in Vitro Observation of Single-Monolayer Collagen-Peptide Dynamics

Proteins perform a variety of essential functions in living cells and thus are of critical interest for drug delivery as well as disease biomarkers. The different functions are derived from a hugely diverse set of structures, fueling interest in their conformational states. Surface-enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy has been utilized to detect and discriminate protein monomers. As an important step forward, we are investigating collagen peptides consisting of  a  triple helix. While they constitute the main structural building blocks in many complex proteins, they are also a perfect model system for the complex proteins relevant in biological systems. Their complex spectroscopic information as well as the overall small size present a significant challenge for their detection and discrimination. Using resonant plasmonic nanoslits, which are known to show larger specificity compared to nanoantennas, we overcome this challenge. We perform in vitro surface-enhanced absorption spectroscopy studies and track the conformational changes of these collagen peptides under two different external stimuli, which are temperature and chemical surroundings. Modeling the coupling between the amide I vibrational modes and the plasmonic resonance, we can extract the conformational state of the collages and thus monitor the folding and unfolding dynamics of even a single monolayer. This leads to new prospects in studies of single layers of proteins and their folding behavior in minute amounts in a living environment.

Metasurface-Based Molecular Biosensing Aided by Artificial Intelligence

Molecular spectroscopy provides unique information on the internal structure of biological materials by detecting the characteristic vibrational signatures of their constituent chemical bonds at infrared frequencies. Nanophotonic antennas and metasurfaces have driven this concept towards few-molecule sensitivity by confining incident light into intense hot spots of the electromagnetic fields, providing strongly enhanced light-matter interaction. In this Minireview, recently developed molecular biosensing approaches based on the combination of dielectric metasurfaces and imaging detection are highlighted in comparison to traditional plasmonic geometries, and the unique potential of artificial intelligence techniques for nanophotonic sensor design and data analysis is emphasized. Because of their spectrometer-less operation principle, such imaging-based approaches hold great promise for miniaturized biosensors in practical point-of-care or field-deployable applications.

Adaptive Method for Quantitative Estimation of Glucose and Fructose Concentrations in Aqueous Solutions Based on Infrared Nanoantenna Optics

In life science and health research one observes a continuous need for new concepts and methods to detect and quantify the presence and concentration of certain biomolecules-preferably even in vivo or aqueous solutions. One prominent example, among many others, is the blood glucose level, which is highly important in the treatment of, e.g., diabetes mellitus. Detecting and, in particular, quantifying the amount of such molecular species in a complex sensing environment, such as human body fluids, constitutes a significant challenge. Surface-enhanced infrared absorption (SEIRA) spectroscopy has proven to be uniquely able to differentiate even very similar molecular species in very small concentrations. We are thus employing SEIRA to gather the vibrational response of aqueous glucose and fructose solutions in the mid-infrared spectral range with varying concentration levels down to 10 g/l. In contrast to previous work, we further demonstrate that it is possible to not only extract the presence of the analyte molecules but to determine the quantitative concentrations in a reliable and automated way. For this, a baseline correction method is applied to pre-process the measurement data in order to extract the characteristic vibrational information. Afterwards, a set of basis functions is fitted to capture the characteristic features of the two examined monosaccharides and a potential contribution of the solvent itself. The reconstruction of the actual concentration levels is then performed by superposition of the different basis functions to approximate the measured data. This software-based enhancement of the employed optical sensors leads to an accurate quantitative estimate of glucose and fructose concentrations in aqueous solutions.

In Vitro Monitoring Conformational Changes of Polypeptide Monolayers Using Infrared Plasmonic Nanoantennas

Proteins and peptides play a predominant role in biochemical reactions of living cells. In these complex environments, not only the constitution of the molecules but also their three-dimensional configuration defines their functionality. This so-called secondary structure of proteins is crucial for understanding their function in living matter. Misfolding, for example, is suspected as the cause of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease. Ultimately, it is necessary to study a single protein and its folding dynamics. Here, we report a first step in this direction, namely ultrasensitive detection and discrimination of in vitro polypeptide folding and unfolding processes using resonant plasmonic nanoantennas for surface-enhanced vibrational spectroscopy. We utilize poly-l-lysine as a model system which has been functionalized on the gold surface. By in vitro infrared spectroscopy of a single molecular monolayer at the amide I vibrations we directly monitor the reversible conformational changes between α-helix and β-sheet states induced by controlled external chemical stimuli. Our scheme in combination with advanced positioning of the peptides and proteins and more brilliant light sources is highly promising for ultrasensitive in vitro studies down to the single protein level.

Quantifying the Limits of Detection of Surface-Enhanced Infrared Spectroscopy with Grating Order-Coupled Nanogap Antennas

Infrared spectroscopy is widely used for biomolecular studies, but struggles when investigating minute quantities of analytes due to the mismatch between vibrational cross sections and IR wavelengths. It is therefore beneficial to enhance absorption signals by confining the infrared light to deeply subwavelength volumes comparable in size to the biomolecules of interest. This can be achieved with surface-enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy, for which plasmonic nanorod antennas represent the predominant implementation. However, unifying design guidelines for such systems are still lacking. Here, we introduce an experimentally verified framework for designing antenna-based molecular IR spectroscopy sensors. Specifically, we find that in order to maximize the sensing performance, it is essential to combine the signal enhancement originating from nanoscale gaps between the antenna elements with the enhancement obtained from coupling to the grating order modes of the unit cell. Using an optimized grating order-coupled nanogap design, our experiments and numerical simulations show a hotspot limit of detection of two proteins per nanogap. Furthermore, we introduce and analyze additional limit of detection parameters, specifically for deposited surface mass, in-solution concentration, and secondary structure determination. These limits of detection provide valuable reference points for performance metrics of surface-enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy in practical applications, such as the characterization of biological samples in aqueous solution.