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Virtual Journal for Biomedical Optics

| EXPLORING THE INTERFACE OF LIGHT AND BIOMEDICINE

  • Editors: Andrew Dunn and Anthony Durkin
  • Vol. 7, Iss. 11 — Oct. 31, 2012

Optics InfoBase > Virtual Journal for Biomedical Optics > Volume 7 > Issue 11 > Page 21272

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Aluminum oxide nanostructure-based substrates for fluorescence enhancement

Xiang Li, Yuan He, Tianhua Zhang, and Long Que  »View Author Affiliations


Optics Express, Vol. 20, Issue 19, pp. 21272-21277 (2012)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/OE.20.021272


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Abstract

A new fluorescence enhancement technical platform based on anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) nanostructure substrate is reported for the first time. Several fluorophores have been examined on the AAO nanostructure substrates. Systematic experiments found that the enhancement factor can be up to two orders of magnitude compared to the fluorescence signals on a glass substrate, indicating its great potential for ultrasensitive fluorescence detection. Given the simple and cost-effective fabrication process of lithographically patterned AAO nanostructure, this type of AAO nanostructure platform has great potential applications, especially its integration with microdevices and microfluidic devices for fluorescence-based biological analysis.

© 2012 OSA

1. Introduction

Fluorescence sensing and detection is a very important technique and has been widely utilized in many different fields, such as medical imaging, a variety of biology detections (e.g., DNA arrays and gene sequencing), clinical chemistry, and environmental monitoring [1

A. Q. Emili and G. Cagney, “Large-scale functional analysis using peptide or protein arrays,” Nat. Biotechnol. 18(4), 393–397 (2000). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

,2

Y. Li, Y. T. Cu, and D. Luo, “Multiplexed detection of pathogen DNA with DNA-based fluorescence nanobarcodes,” Nat. Biotechnol. 23(7), 885–889 (2005). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

]. Fluorescence methods provide many advantages over other biodetection techniques, including high sensitivity and multiplexing capabilities even though the labeling of fluorescence dyes to biomolecules is still a tedious work. While fluorescence offers high sensitivity, how to further improve its sensitivity, to facilitate the detection of ultra-low concentration of targeted species, has been an active research topic of significant importance. To this end, optimum design of the fluorophores [3

M. Zimmer, “Green fluorescent protein (GFP): applications, structure, and related photophysical behavior,” Chem. Rev. 102(3), 759–782 (2002). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

], improved detection method and apparatus [4

J. Zhao, X. Zhang, C. R. Yonzon, A. J. Haes, and R. P. Van Duyne, “Localized surface plasmon resonance biosensors,” Nanomedicine (Lond) 1(2), 219–228 (2006). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

] and advanced fluorescence enhancement substrate [5

C. Geddes and J. R. Lakowicz, “Metal-enhanced fluorescence,” J. Fluoresc. 12(2), 121–129 (2002). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

–8

G. Lu, W. Li, T. Zhang, S. Yue, J. Liu, L. Hou, Z. Li, and Q. Gong, “Plasmonic-enhanced molecular fluorescence within isolated bowtie nano-apertures,” ACS Nano 6(2), 1438–1448 (2012). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

] are among the major research efforts.

Of all the advanced fluorescence substrates, the metallic nanostructured substrates have been mostly and successfully exploited. As a result, the metal-enhanced fluorescence (MEF) has become a widely used technique [5

C. Geddes and J. R. Lakowicz, “Metal-enhanced fluorescence,” J. Fluoresc. 12(2), 121–129 (2002). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

–8

G. Lu, W. Li, T. Zhang, S. Yue, J. Liu, L. Hou, Z. Li, and Q. Gong, “Plasmonic-enhanced molecular fluorescence within isolated bowtie nano-apertures,” ACS Nano 6(2), 1438–1448 (2012). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

]. Specifically, gold (Au), silver (Ag) or aluminum (Al) nanoparticles or nanostructures have been widely used as fluorescence enhancers. In this case, usually the fluorophores are located in close proximity to the surface of the nanostructures. It is well known that the physical mechanism for the fluorescence enhancement behind the MEF is due to the interactions of the excited fluorophores with surface plasmon resonances in metals. In other words, when the fluorophores are in close proximity to the surface of the metallic nanostructures, their intrinsic decay rate and the quantum yield increase, leading to a remarkable decrease in the lifetime of the fluorophores and thus an enhanced fluorescence signals [5

C. Geddes and J. R. Lakowicz, “Metal-enhanced fluorescence,” J. Fluoresc. 12(2), 121–129 (2002). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

–8

G. Lu, W. Li, T. Zhang, S. Yue, J. Liu, L. Hou, Z. Li, and Q. Gong, “Plasmonic-enhanced molecular fluorescence within isolated bowtie nano-apertures,” ACS Nano 6(2), 1438–1448 (2012). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

]. It has been found that the fluorescence enhancement has clear gap dependence between the fluorophores and the metallic surface [5

C. Geddes and J. R. Lakowicz, “Metal-enhanced fluorescence,” J. Fluoresc. 12(2), 121–129 (2002). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

], and thus an optimum distance for the enhancement exists. Due to the quenching effect, a thin layer of dielectric material (e.g., SiO2 of 5 nm) has to be applied to the metal nanoparticles or nanostructures to separate the metal nanostructures and the fluorophores. Some examples of MEF substrates include silver fractal nanostructures [6

E. M. Goldys, K. Drozdowicz-Tomsia, F. Xie, T. Shtoyko, E. Matveeva, I. Gryczynski, and Z. Gryczynski, “Fluorescence amplification by electrochemically deposited silver nanowires with fractal architecture,” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 129(40), 12117–12122 (2007). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

], gold surface nanoscale grating [7

Y. J. Hung, I. I. Smolyaninov, C. C. Davis, and H. C. Wu, “Fluorescence enhancement by surface gratings,” Opt. Express 14(22), 10825–10830 (2006). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

], aluminum bowtie nano-apertures [8

G. Lu, W. Li, T. Zhang, S. Yue, J. Liu, L. Hou, Z. Li, and Q. Gong, “Plasmonic-enhanced molecular fluorescence within isolated bowtie nano-apertures,” ACS Nano 6(2), 1438–1448 (2012). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

], etc. However, besides the expensive metals such as Au or Ag, the construction of these types of metallic nanostructures also usually requires expensive nanofabrication process such as electron-beam lithography and focused ion beam milling, preventing the production of inexpensive nanostructured fluorescence enhancement substrates in an efficient manner.

In addition to the aforementioned metallic nanostructured substrates, some other non-metallic nanomaterials and nanostructures have been also discovered and exploited to increase the fluorescence signals and sensitivity. Some representatives include the nanoscaled zinc oxide (ZnO) substrate [9

A. Dorfman, N. Kumar, and J. I. Hahm, “Highly sensitive biomolecular fluorescence detection using nanoscale ZnO platforms,” Langmuir 22(11), 4890–4895 (2006). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

,10

V. Adalsteinsson, O. Parajuli, S. Kepics, A. Gupta, W. B. Reeves, and J. I. Hahm, “Ultrasensitive detection of cytokines enabled by nanoscale ZnO arrays,” Anal. Chem. 80(17), 6594–6601 (2008). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

], ZnO/SiO2 core/shell nanorod substrate [11

J. Zhao, L. Wu, and J. Zhi, “Fabrication of micropatterned ZnO/SiO2 core/shell nanorod arrays on a nanocrystalline diamond film and their application to DNA hybridization detection,” J. Mater. Chem. 18(21), 2459–2465 (2008). [CrossRef]

] and nanoscaled SnO2 substrate [12

C. Gu, J. Huang, N. Ni, M. Li, and J. Liu, “Detection of DNA hybridization based on SnO2 nanomaterial enhanced fluorescence,” J. Phys. D Appl. Phys. 41(17), 175103 (2008). [CrossRef]

]. The anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) nanostructures have also been explored and utilized for fluorescence detection [13

S. Cloutier, A. Lazareck, and J. Xu, “Detection of nano-confined DNA using surface-plasmon enhanced fluorescence,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 88(1), 0139041–0139043 (2006). [CrossRef]

,14

R. Li and H. Grebel, “Surface enhanced fluorescence: polarization characteristics,” IEEE Sens. J. 10(3), 465–468 (2010). [CrossRef]

]. One approach is to arrange an AAO layer on a Kretschmann-Raether (ATR) setup to achieve surface-plasmon resonance (SPR)-induced fluorescence platform [13

S. Cloutier, A. Lazareck, and J. Xu, “Detection of nano-confined DNA using surface-plasmon enhanced fluorescence,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 88(1), 0139041–0139043 (2006). [CrossRef]

]. The other work was mainly focused on polarization-dependent analysis of the optical properties of AAO nanostructures on the fluorescence signals [14

R. Li and H. Grebel, “Surface enhanced fluorescence: polarization characteristics,” IEEE Sens. J. 10(3), 465–468 (2010). [CrossRef]

]. Very little work has been reported to directly use the biocompatible AAO nanostructures as a fluorescence enhancement platform. Additionally, the AAO nanostructures usually have been fabricated from a high purity Al (99.9999%) sheet or the large Al thin film [15

H. Masuda and K. Fukuda, “Ordered metal nanohole arrays made by a two-step replication of honeycomb structures of anodic alumina,” Science 268(5216), 1466–1468 (1995). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

], no work has been reported to fabricate AAO nanostructures from the lithographically patterned Al thin film.

Herein, we report fluorescence enhancement substrates based on the patterned AAO nanostructures for the first time, which are fabricated in a cost-effective manner by combining a lift-off and one-step anodization process thus paving a way for developing disposable fluorescence enhancement substrates, and can be readily integrated with microdevices or microfluidic devices for a variety of fluorescence-based biological and biomedical applications.

2. Fabrication of nanostructured alumina and experimental procedure

An illustration of fabricating arrayed aluminum oxide nanostructure (AAO) patterns from lithographically patterned Al thin film is given in Fig. 1 . The detailed fabrication procedure has been reported in another paper. Briefly, start with a glass substrate coated with indium tin oxide (ITO). ITO thickness is 435~465nm. It is cleaned by using sonication with soapy DI water, acetone, ethanol, and then DI water, respectively. Between each solution of the clean process, the substrate is rinsed by DI water and then dried using a nitrogen gun. Then, Al of 1.5-2 µm with Ti of 10 nm as an adhesion layer is deposited on the substrate using E-beam evaporation. 2 × 2 Al patterns connected with each other with Al lines using a lift-off process. Third, one-step anodization process [16

G. Sulka, S. Stroobants, V. Moshchalkov, G. Borghs, and J. P. Celis, “Synthesis of well-ordered nanopores by anodizing aluminum foils in sulfuric acid,” J. Electrochem. Soc. 149(7), D97–D103 (2002). [CrossRef]

] is performed to form anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) nanopores: The anodization was performed in 0.3M sulfuric acid at a voltage of 17 V and a temperature of 2 °C. Monitoring and controlling the current flow in the Al thin film is the key during the anodization step. The AAO nanopore size and the spacing among nanopores can be tuned by changing the process parameters. By changing the layout of the patterns in Fig. 1, tens and hundreds of arrayed AAO patterns can be fabricated.

Fig. 1 Fabrication process flow of 2 × 2 arrayed AAO nanostructure patterns (1) start from ITO glass substrate; (2) 2 × 2 Al patterns connected with each other with Al lines using a lift-off process; (3) one –step anodization is performed; (4) 5 nm and 10 nm Au is coated on AAO nanostructures and ITO glass for comparison studies.

An example of the fabricated AAO nanostructures on ITO glass substrate is shown in Fig. 2 . The wafer-scale AAO nanostructure is given in Fig. 2(a), and lithographically patterned 2 × 2 AAO nanostructure is given in Fig. 2(b). Both of them are optically transparent. SEM images of the AAO nanostructure layer is shown in Fig. 2(c). As we can see, the nanopores with size of 10 ± 2 nm are formed in the Al thin film, while the Al thin film consists of Al grains, typical size is in the range of 50 nm to 400 nm. The measured roughness of the film is ~50-80 nm by using atomic force microscope (AFM) in Fig. 2(d). Compared to AAO fabricated from Al foil thin film using one-step or two-step anodization process, the distinct difference is that the topology of the surface of the AAO nanostructure layer. For latter case, the Al thin film is quite smooth without any nanoscale Al grains.

Fig. 2 (a-b) Photos of wafer-scale and 2 × 2 patterned AAO nanopore structures on ITO glass after one step anodization; (c) SEM image of the AAO nanostructures; (d) AFM image of AAO nanostructures.

Fluorophores Rhodamine 6G (R6G) (Lightning Powder, Inc), fluorescein sodium salt (FSS) (Sigma, Inc), Calceim AM (Sigma, Inc) and fluorescent brightening agents (FBA) (Sigma, Inc) were used for the technical demonstrations. All of them are dissolved in dionized (DI) water or isopropyl alcohol (IPA). Solutions of fluorophores are uniformly applied on the AAO nanostructures and ITO glass by spin-coating. All the fluorescent images have been taken after the solutions become dried using a fluorescence microscope (Olympus, Inc), which has three filter sets: FITC (excitation filter: 475-490 nm; barrier filter: 500-540 nm); TRITC (excitation filter: 545-565 nm; barrier filter: 580-620 nm) and DAPI (excitation filter: 330-385 nm; barrier filter: 420-460 nm). The setup for the measurement of fluorescence spectra utilizes the similar filter sets and the fluorescent signals are recorded by a spectrometer (Ocean Optics, Inc.).

3. Experimental results and discussion

Systematic experiments have been carried out on a series of substrates coated with different types of fluorophores, resulting in consistent fluorescence enhancement. In Fig. 3(a) , the same amount of R6G is uniformly coated on the two substrates: one AAO nanostructure and ITO glass substrate, one 10 nm Au coated AAO nanostructure and ITO glass substrate. Measurements were then taken after the substrates became dried. It reveals that the fluorescence of R6G on AAO nanostructure has been enhanced significantly compared to that on the ITO glass, even though the fluorescence of R6G on Au-coated AAO nanostructure has somewhat less enhancement, which might be due to the quenching effect since the R6G is directly coated on the Au thin film [5

C. Geddes and J. R. Lakowicz, “Metal-enhanced fluorescence,” J. Fluoresc. 12(2), 121–129 (2002). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

]. In order to confirm the observed phenomenon, the Calceim AM is also uniformly coated on a substrate as shown in Fig. 3(b). Part of this substrate is coated with 5 nm Au and part of this substrate is not coated with Au. As can be seen in Fig. 3(b), as expected, the fluorescence enhancement has some difference on the substrate, which is clearly visible at the interface with and without Au coating. Based on these experiments, we used 4 patterned AAO nanostructures to obtain the fluorescent images of three fluorophores as shown in Fig. 3(c).

Fig. 3 (a) top row: fluorescence images of R6G on AAO nanostructure and ITO substrate and Au-coated AAO nanostructure and ITO substrate; bottom row: corresponding bright field optical images of the substrates; (b) top: fluorescence images of Calceim AM on AAO nanostructure and ITO substrate and Au-coated AAO nanostructure and ITO substrate; bottom: corresponding bright field optical image of the same substrate; (c) fluorescence images of three different dyes: FBA, R6G and FSS on AAO nanostructure substrates and ITO substrates.

To quantify the fluorescence enhancement of the AAO nanostructure substrate compared to a glass substrate, the fluorescence spectra of R6G and FSS on an AAO nanostructure substrate and a glass substrate of the same size have been measured. The optical scattering spectra of the same AAO nanostructure substrate and glass substrate prior to attaching any fluorophores have been measured as a reference. After subtracting the optical scattering spectra from the fluorescence spectra, the corrected fluorescence spectra of R6G and FSS are obtained in Fig. 4 . The fluorescence enhancement factor of the AAO nanostructure substrate compared to the glass substrate for both R6G and FSS is two orders of magnitude, which is comparable to that of the ZnO nanostructure substrate [9

A. Dorfman, N. Kumar, and J. I. Hahm, “Highly sensitive biomolecular fluorescence detection using nanoscale ZnO platforms,” Langmuir 22(11), 4890–4895 (2006). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

]. Experiments found that the fluorescence intensities from FITC anti-IgG molecules on ZnO nanostructure substrate were three orders of magnitude higher than those from FITC anti-IgG molecules of the same concentration of 200 µg/mL on Si, Si nanowires, glass, quartz and PMMA substrates [9

A. Dorfman, N. Kumar, and J. I. Hahm, “Highly sensitive biomolecular fluorescence detection using nanoscale ZnO platforms,” Langmuir 22(11), 4890–4895 (2006). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

].

Fig. 4 Fluorescence spectra of R6G and FSS on AAO nanostructure and glass substrate corrected by subtracting the optical scattering spectra of bare AAO nanostructure substrate and glass substrate.

Some control experiments have been carried out to understand the fluorescence enhancement mechanism. In Fig. 5(a) , it shows that the fluorescence enhancement on totally anodized Al (pure AAO) is somewhat lower than that on the partially anodized Al (partial AAO). The partial AAO is not optically transparent as the pure AAO as shown in the bright field optical image in Fig. 5(b). A layer of opaque Al below a layer of AAO in the partial AAO causes enhanced reflectance of the excitation light, thereby resulting in an enhanced fluorescence. In order to confirm the critical role of AAO nanostructure in the fluorescence enhancement, the AAO layer has been etched away by immersing the AAO substrate in a mixture solution of phosphoric acid (0.4 M) and chromic acid (0.2 M) at 65 °C over night, followed by rigorous DI water rinse. The SEM image of the substrate after the AAO layer etching is given in Fig. 5(c-d), which is clearly different from those in Fig. 2(c). The remaining on the substrate might be anodized Ti. However it is too thin to be determined using an X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The fluorescent dye R6G is then uniformly coated on the substrate. The fluorescence images are shown in Fig. 5(e). No fluorescence enhancement can be observed.

Fig. 5 (a) Fluorecence and (b) corresponding bright field image of R6G on AAO nanostructure, partial AAO and ITO glass substrate; (c-d) SEM images of the substrate after AAO lalyer being removed; (e) Fluorescence and (f) corrsponding bright field image of R6G on a substrate after AAO layer being etched.

The surface area effect of the AAO nanostructure on the fluorescence enhancement has been evaluated. First, the same amount of R6G and FSS is spin-coated on AAO nanostructure substrates and glass substrates of the same size, respectively. The fluorescence images and spectra of the 4 substrates have been taken after they dried. Then the substrates are immersed in DI water of the same amount in 4 beakers and are ultrasonically rinsed for several hours. Thereafter, the fluorescence images and spectra of the 4 washed substrates have been measured. After washing, essentially no R6G remains on the AAO nanostructure substrate, which is confirmed by the fluorescence image as shown in Fig. 6(a) . The fluorescence spectra of R6G on AAO after washing in Fig. 6(b) further confirm that no R6G was left on AAO nanostructure substrate. For FSS, very little amount of fluorescence dyes remains on the AAO nanostructure as confirmed in Fig. 6(a). The measured fluorescence spectra of the R6G and FSS solution washed from AAO nanostructure substrates and glass substrates are shown in Fig. 6(c) and Fig. 6(d), indicating the amount of R6G and FSS attached on the AAO nanostructure substrate is lower than that on glass substrate before washing. These results suggest that the surface area of AAO nanostructure for attaching fluorophores does not increase compared to that of a glass substrate with the same size. In contrast, the amount of fluorophores attached to the surface of AAO nanostructure is lower than that on the glass substrate based on systematic experiments, indicating the intrinsic property of AAO nanostructures plays a critical role in this enhancement, probably similar to that of the ZnO and SnO2 nanostructures [9

A. Dorfman, N. Kumar, and J. I. Hahm, “Highly sensitive biomolecular fluorescence detection using nanoscale ZnO platforms,” Langmuir 22(11), 4890–4895 (2006). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

–12

C. Gu, J. Huang, N. Ni, M. Li, and J. Liu, “Detection of DNA hybridization based on SnO2 nanomaterial enhanced fluorescence,” J. Phys. D Appl. Phys. 41(17), 175103 (2008). [CrossRef]

].

Fig. 6 (a) Fluorecence images of R6G and FSS on AAO nanostructure substrate before and after ultrasonic solution wash; (b) Fluorescence spectra of R6G on an AAO nanostructure substrate and a glass substrate after ultrasonic washing; (c) Fluorecence spectra of R6G solution ultrasonically washed from a AAO nanostructure substrate and a glass substrate with the same size; (d) Fluorescence spectra of FSS solution ultrasonically washed from a AAO nanostructure substrate and a glass substrate with the same size.

Similar to other metal oxides such as ZnO nanorods, ZnO nanoscaled film and SnO2 nanostructures for fluorescence enhancement [9

A. Dorfman, N. Kumar, and J. I. Hahm, “Highly sensitive biomolecular fluorescence detection using nanoscale ZnO platforms,” Langmuir 22(11), 4890–4895 (2006). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

–12

C. Gu, J. Huang, N. Ni, M. Li, and J. Liu, “Detection of DNA hybridization based on SnO2 nanomaterial enhanced fluorescence,” J. Phys. D Appl. Phys. 41(17), 175103 (2008). [CrossRef]

], the mechanism of the AAO nanostructure substrate for fluorescence enhancement is different from MEF since no metals exist in the substrate. The exact mechanism requires further study. Some possible explanations are summarized in the following: First, the surface scattering effects of the nanostructured AAO cause the redistribution of the electromagnetic fields with high surface intensities, eventually resulting in the enhanced fluorescence [17

N. Ganesh, W. Zhang, P. C. Mathias, E. Chow, J. A. Soares, V. Malyarchuk, A. D. Smith, and B. T. Cunningham, “Enhanced fluorescence emission from quantum dots on a photonic crystal surface,” Nat. Nanotechnol. 2(8), 515–520 (2007). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

,18

T. Fujii, Y. Gao, R. Sharma, E. L. Hu, S. P. DenBaars, and S. Nakamura, “Increase in the extraction efficiency of GaN-based light-emitting diodes via surface roughening,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 84(6), 855–857 (2004). [CrossRef]

]. Second, based on the research on ZnO nanostructures for fluorescence enhancement [9

A. Dorfman, N. Kumar, and J. I. Hahm, “Highly sensitive biomolecular fluorescence detection using nanoscale ZnO platforms,” Langmuir 22(11), 4890–4895 (2006). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

–12

C. Gu, J. Huang, N. Ni, M. Li, and J. Liu, “Detection of DNA hybridization based on SnO2 nanomaterial enhanced fluorescence,” J. Phys. D Appl. Phys. 41(17), 175103 (2008). [CrossRef]

], the following effects might also play very important roles in the observed fluorescence enhancement. Similar to the waveguiding property of the ZnO nanomaterials and its ability to enhance the intensity of the evanescent field, the average size of the grains in the AAO film (Fig. 2) is similar to that of ZnO nanorods to guide the visible light effectively, thereby enhancing the intensity of the evanescent field. Hence, the AAO nanostructures can serve as efficient evanescent waveguides, enabling the fluorescence enhancement tremendously [10

V. Adalsteinsson, O. Parajuli, S. Kepics, A. Gupta, W. B. Reeves, and J. I. Hahm, “Ultrasensitive detection of cytokines enabled by nanoscale ZnO arrays,” Anal. Chem. 80(17), 6594–6601 (2008). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

].

4. Conclusion

The AAO nanostructure substrate for fluorescence enhancement is reported for the first time. Experiments found that the fluorescence enhancement factor can be up to two orders of magnitude compared to a glass substrate, indicating its ability to detect ultralow trace level of fluorophore-labeled biomolecules. Due to the easiness of large scale fabrication of patterned AAO nanostructure on a single chip, this technique might benefit the multiplexing fluorescence-based biosensing tremendously. The simple, cost-effective and disposable nature of this type of sensor is attractive for rapid point-of-care and field biodetection applications as well.

Acknowledgment

This research is supported in part by a grant of NSF Pfund-Louisiana 2012 and a NSF CAREER award.

References and links

1.

A. Q. Emili and G. Cagney, “Large-scale functional analysis using peptide or protein arrays,” Nat. Biotechnol. 18(4), 393–397 (2000). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

2.

Y. Li, Y. T. Cu, and D. Luo, “Multiplexed detection of pathogen DNA with DNA-based fluorescence nanobarcodes,” Nat. Biotechnol. 23(7), 885–889 (2005). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

3.

M. Zimmer, “Green fluorescent protein (GFP): applications, structure, and related photophysical behavior,” Chem. Rev. 102(3), 759–782 (2002). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

4.

J. Zhao, X. Zhang, C. R. Yonzon, A. J. Haes, and R. P. Van Duyne, “Localized surface plasmon resonance biosensors,” Nanomedicine (Lond) 1(2), 219–228 (2006). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

5.

C. Geddes and J. R. Lakowicz, “Metal-enhanced fluorescence,” J. Fluoresc. 12(2), 121–129 (2002). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

6.

E. M. Goldys, K. Drozdowicz-Tomsia, F. Xie, T. Shtoyko, E. Matveeva, I. Gryczynski, and Z. Gryczynski, “Fluorescence amplification by electrochemically deposited silver nanowires with fractal architecture,” J. Am. Chem. Soc. 129(40), 12117–12122 (2007). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

7.

Y. J. Hung, I. I. Smolyaninov, C. C. Davis, and H. C. Wu, “Fluorescence enhancement by surface gratings,” Opt. Express 14(22), 10825–10830 (2006). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

8.

G. Lu, W. Li, T. Zhang, S. Yue, J. Liu, L. Hou, Z. Li, and Q. Gong, “Plasmonic-enhanced molecular fluorescence within isolated bowtie nano-apertures,” ACS Nano 6(2), 1438–1448 (2012). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

9.

A. Dorfman, N. Kumar, and J. I. Hahm, “Highly sensitive biomolecular fluorescence detection using nanoscale ZnO platforms,” Langmuir 22(11), 4890–4895 (2006). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

10.

V. Adalsteinsson, O. Parajuli, S. Kepics, A. Gupta, W. B. Reeves, and J. I. Hahm, “Ultrasensitive detection of cytokines enabled by nanoscale ZnO arrays,” Anal. Chem. 80(17), 6594–6601 (2008). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

11.

J. Zhao, L. Wu, and J. Zhi, “Fabrication of micropatterned ZnO/SiO2 core/shell nanorod arrays on a nanocrystalline diamond film and their application to DNA hybridization detection,” J. Mater. Chem. 18(21), 2459–2465 (2008). [CrossRef]

12.

C. Gu, J. Huang, N. Ni, M. Li, and J. Liu, “Detection of DNA hybridization based on SnO2 nanomaterial enhanced fluorescence,” J. Phys. D Appl. Phys. 41(17), 175103 (2008). [CrossRef]

13.

S. Cloutier, A. Lazareck, and J. Xu, “Detection of nano-confined DNA using surface-plasmon enhanced fluorescence,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 88(1), 0139041–0139043 (2006). [CrossRef]

14.

R. Li and H. Grebel, “Surface enhanced fluorescence: polarization characteristics,” IEEE Sens. J. 10(3), 465–468 (2010). [CrossRef]

15.

H. Masuda and K. Fukuda, “Ordered metal nanohole arrays made by a two-step replication of honeycomb structures of anodic alumina,” Science 268(5216), 1466–1468 (1995). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

16.

G. Sulka, S. Stroobants, V. Moshchalkov, G. Borghs, and J. P. Celis, “Synthesis of well-ordered nanopores by anodizing aluminum foils in sulfuric acid,” J. Electrochem. Soc. 149(7), D97–D103 (2002). [CrossRef]

17.

N. Ganesh, W. Zhang, P. C. Mathias, E. Chow, J. A. Soares, V. Malyarchuk, A. D. Smith, and B. T. Cunningham, “Enhanced fluorescence emission from quantum dots on a photonic crystal surface,” Nat. Nanotechnol. 2(8), 515–520 (2007). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

18.

T. Fujii, Y. Gao, R. Sharma, E. L. Hu, S. P. DenBaars, and S. Nakamura, “Increase in the extraction efficiency of GaN-based light-emitting diodes via surface roughening,” Appl. Phys. Lett. 84(6), 855–857 (2004). [CrossRef]

OCIS Codes
(170.6280) Medical optics and biotechnology : Spectroscopy, fluorescence and luminescence
(180.2520) Microscopy : Fluorescence microscopy
(300.2530) Spectroscopy : Fluorescence, laser-induced

ToC Category:
Spectroscopy

History
Original Manuscript: June 4, 2012
Revised Manuscript: July 20, 2012
Manuscript Accepted: August 29, 2012
Published: September 4, 2012

Virtual Issues
Vol. 7, Iss. 11 Virtual Journal for Biomedical Optics

Citation
Xiang Li, Yuan He, Tianhua Zhang, and Long Que, "Aluminum oxide nanostructure-based substrates for fluorescence enhancement," Opt. Express 20, 21272-21277 (2012)
http://www.opticsinfobase.org/vjbo/abstract.cfm?URI=oe-20-19-21272


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References

  1. A. Q. Emili and G. Cagney, “Large-scale functional analysis using peptide or protein arrays,” Nat. Biotechnol.18(4), 393–397 (2000). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
  2. Y. Li, Y. T. Cu, and D. Luo, “Multiplexed detection of pathogen DNA with DNA-based fluorescence nanobarcodes,” Nat. Biotechnol.23(7), 885–889 (2005). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
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