Performance Analysis of Non-Interferometry Based Surface Plasmon Resonance Microscopes

Abstract

Surface plasmon microscopy has been of interest to the science and engineering community and has been utilized in broad aspects of applications and studies, including biochemical sensing and biomolecular binding kinetics. The benefits of surface plasmon microscopy include label-free detection, high sensitivity, and quantitative measurements. Here, a theoretical framework to analyze and compare several non-interferometric surface plasmon microscopes is proposed. The scope of the study is to (1) identify the strengths and weaknesses in each surface plasmon microscopes reported in the literature; (2) quantify their performance in terms of spatial imaging resolution, imaging contrast, sensitivity, and measurement accuracy for quantitative and non-quantitative imaging modes of the microscopes. Six types of non-interferometric microscopes were included in this study: annulus aperture scanning, half annulus aperture scanning, single-point scanning, double-point scanning, single-point scanning, at 45 degrees azimuthal angle, and double-point scanning at 45 degrees azimuthal angle. For non-quantitative imaging, there is a substantial tradeoff between the image contrast and the spatial resolution. For the quantitative imaging, the half annulus aperture provided the highest sensitivity of 127.058 rad/μm2 RIU−1, followed by the full annulus aperture of 126.318 rad/μm2 RIU−1. There is a clear tradeoff between spatial resolution and sensitivity. The annulus aperture and half annulus aperture had an optimal resolution, sensitivity, and crosstalk compared to the other non-interferometric surface plasmon resonance microscopes. The resolution depends strongly on the propagation length of the surface plasmons rather than the numerical aperture of the objective lens. For imaging and sensing purposes, the recommended microfluidic channel size and protein stamping size for surface plasmon resonance experiments is at least 25 μm for accurate plasmonic measurements.

Boosting Low-Temperature Resistance of Energy Storage Devices by Photothermal Conversion Effects

“…The surface plasmon resonance increases the probability of electron collision on the surface of AgNWs. When electrons jump from the Fermi energy level to the higher energy level, superhot electrons are generated due to thermal motion, and the energy captured by the surface plasma is released through electron–phonon scattering, which intensifies the oscillation of the surface plasma, that is, thermal energy. ,− The thermal energy is then transported to the external environment through the relaxation generated during the phonon–phonon vibration. Figure S4b–f in the Supporting Information shows the simulation with the same method at different cross-sectional depths as shown in Figure S4a, and the similar results could be confirmed.…”

“…While it has been shown that the photothermal conversion layer could greatly improve performance of energy storage devices, photothermal conversion efficiency would be affected by surface morphology of conversion layer materials. Therefore, the theoretical simulation of the effect of surface morphology on photothermal conversion efficiency at −20 °C under one sun illumination is carried out and shown in Figure . ,− Five different surface morphologies are investigated as shown in Figure a–e. The results indicate that the cone spine surface with the largest specific surface area has the highest surface temperature.…”