Patent ID: 7943908

Claim:
Sensor system with Surface-Plasmon-Polariton (SPP) enhanced selective fluorescence excitation, comprising: a. an active sensor chip including: at least one conductive layer formed from a conductive material, at least one dielectric layer formed from a dielectric material and deposited on a first surface of said at least one conductive layer, surface plasmon polariton existing in vicinity of a boundary between said at least one conductive layer and said at least one dielectric layer, said at least one dielectric layer being patterned to form at least a first active sensor patch having a periodically-patterned surface of a predetermined first periodicity formed of a plurality of periodically disposed nano-elements, wherein said periodical-patterned surface includes dielectric undulations forming walls having spaced apart steep sides extending from above said first surface of said at least one conductive layer, and trenches defined between said walls, and wherein said steep sides of said walls are devoid of a conductive material, at least a first specimen under study being positioned above said periodically patterned surface of said at least first active sensor patch, said at least first specimen containing at least first fluorescently labeled target particles of interest; and b. a multi-planar adjustable source of excitation generating an excitation light beam of at least a first wavelength, said excitation light beam being incident on said periodically patterned surface of said at least first active sensor patch through said at least first specimen under study at a first adjustable polar incidence angle and at a first adjustable azimuthal orientation relative to said nano-elements; wherein said at least first target particles of interest generate a first fluorescence signal enhanced by controlling the excitation of said surface plasmon polaritons in vicinity of said boundary through selecting an optimal at least one of said first wavelength, said first incidence angle, and said first azimuthal orientation for said first periodicity.