Plasmon-Enhanced Scattering and Fluorescence Used for Ultrasensitive Detection in Langmuir-Blodgett Monolayers

Abstract

The artificial bilayer structures of lipids and phospholipids can be fabricated using the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique. High sensitivity and ultrasensitive detection can only be achieved using plasmon-enhanced spectroscopy, such as surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). This chapter describes the single molecule detection of tagged-phospholipids using the LB technique and plasmon-enhanced scattering. It explores the plasmon-enhanced fluorescence using the LB technique and silver and gold shell-isolated nanoparticles (SHINs). The chapter examines the silver and gold SHIN enhanced fluorescence (SHINEF) results obtained in solution, by casting, and the formation of a two-dimensional SHINs surface to be used, in SHINEF experiments.