NANOPTICS: In-depth analysis of NANomaterials for OPTICal localized surface plasmon resonance Sensing

Abstract Thin films containing metal (gold, silver, etc.) nanoparticles are important platforms for molecular sensing based on the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) phenomenon. To support their use in high-resolution LSPR spectroscopy systems, a software package, called NANOPTICS, was developed. It performs a statistical analysis of the LSPR band of the films, employing central moments of the normalized spectral distribution of optical transmittance. LSPR band parameters, signal-to-noise ratio and refractive index sensitivity are the outputs. It is shown that NANOPTICS can be a powerful tool to perform fast diagnostics of LSPR-based sensors’ sensitivity and to analyse their response to target analytes.