Fourier nanotransducers for phase-sensitive plasmonic biosensing

We present phase-responding Fourier nanotransducers based on plasmonic metamaterials for ultrasensitive control of dynamic characteristics of 2D materials and functional biosensing interfaces. These nanotransducers are designed in such a way that they can confine light in 2D plane contacting with a probed ultrathin sample, gathering information about its properties, and then transmitting the information into discrete optical beams with amplified phase relations. To demonstrate their potential of Fourier transducers in biosensing, we designed Fourier nanotransducers based on periodic gold nanostructures and applied it in a newly developed protocol for the detection of important antibiotic chloramphenicol (CAP). Such biosensing tests showed the lower detection limit at fg mL−1 level, which several orders of magnitude better than reported in the literature. The implementation of Fourier nanotransducers opens new opportunities for a radical improvement of current state-of-the art plasmonic biosensing technology.