Measuring particle-substrate distance with Surface Plasmon Resonance Microscopy

Zhang, T, Morgan, Hywel, Riehle, M and Curtis, A (2001) Measuring particle-substrate distance with Surface Plasmon Resonance Microscopy. Journal of Optics A: Pure and Applied Optics, 3 (5), 333-337. (doi:10.1088/1464-4258/3/5/304).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Because of its high sensitivity, surface plasmon resonance (SPR) has been used to measure the optical properties of thin films. Surface plasmon resonance microscopy (SPRM) has been developed as a tool to image the two-dimensional architecture of thin films. The method can be used as a non-invasive tool for imaging cells on a surface. In this paper SPRM has been used to image latex spheres immobilized on a gold surface. We show that it is possible to calculate the distance between the sphere and the surface in two dimensions by capturing an image at one fixed angle. This technique obviates the need for the traditional angle-scanning system. We show how a map of the particle-substrate gap can be reconstructed directly from a single SPR intensity image. Such a technique could be applied to measure the contact distance between a living cell and a substrate in real time.

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