Thesis supervisor: Attila Bonyár
Location of studies (in Hungarian): Department of Electronics Technology Abbreviation of location of studies: ETT
Description of the research topic:
Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) is considered to be one of the most sensitive optical detection method in the field of labelles affinity type nano- and biosensors. One of the biggest advantages of surface plasmon resonance imaging is the possibility of high throughput measurements, with over 100 parallel measurement spots on the surface of a sensor chip. Such multi-biosensors are frequently used in pharmaceutical research and other possible application areas cover disease diagnostics, gene analysis, environmental monitoring etc.
Compared to classical thin film sensor chip based SPR devices, localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) utilizes nanoparticle ensembles as sensor elements. With the use of nanoparticles, a simpler transmissive optical setup could be utilized which would enable the integration of LSPR based systems into small, handheld devices while also retaining all of the advantages of classic SPR. However, the most important parameters of LSPR sensors (sensitivity, limit of detection etc.) are strongly depending on the properties of the applied nanoparticles (size, shape, distribution etc.). In order to develop a suitable LSPR sensor element, all of the nanoparticle synthesis parameters should be optimized.
With the use of the instrumentation and long-time expertise available at the Department of Electronics Technology the following research areas could be defined in the field:
- Synthesis of novel nanoparticle systems and nanostructured surfaces with their subsequent characterization with atomic force microscopy (AFM) and spectrophotometry. Development of novel sensor chip fabrication technologies, optimization of the synthesis parameters in order to gain the best sensor parameters.
- Modeling and simulation of coupled plasmonic effects in nanoparticle ensembles with suitable simulation tools (e.g. in Matlab environment).
- Development of LSPR based chemical/biosensors for specific applications (DNA sensors, protein sensors, heavy metal ion detection etc.).
- Development and fabrication technology optimization of novel microfluidic systems for the LSPR sensors.
The research area is currently very active at our department, with an ongoing international cooperation as well.
Required language skills: English Recommended language skills (in Hungarian): English Further requirements: The research area is highly multi-disciplinary. Some affinity for physics, chemistry or biology is thus required, any previous expertise in these areas could be advantageous. (However, the required knowledge and skills from these areas can quickly be
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