Abstract
The optical characterization of ultra-thin films, such as molecular monolayers, is simultaneously a research tool for fundamental studies in molecule-interface interactions and an attractive configuration for a sensor platform. Molecular monolayers, which exhibit thickness of only a few nanometers, are attractive candidates for transducer layers in highly species-selective bio and chemical sensors. The planar waveguide is a configuration that has seen increasing use for research in thin film structure and surface characterization. The single mode planar waveguide, a substrate-supported dielectric layer, is an inherently sensitive geometry for probing ultra-thin films. At visible wavelengths, a single-mode planar waveguide supports up to several thousand reflections per cm of beam propagation using a ray optics model. This reflection density is about 4 orders of magnitude greater than using bulk optical elements in conventional attenuated total reflection (ATR) techniques, and yields a concomitantly much higher sensitivity. Nonetheless almost all-previous waveguide based studies have utilized monochromatic sources. Only a few works have reported spectroscopic detection either by using discrete laser lines1 or a monochromator2,3 to sequentially select a frequency to perform absorbance measurements.
© 1998 Optical Society of America
PDF ArticleMore Like This
R. Thielsch, J. Heber, S. Jakobs, N. Kaiser, A. Duparré, and J. Ullmann
TuA.7 Optical Interference Coatings (OIC) 1998
C. Mahodaux, H. Rigneault, H. Giovannini, and P. Morreti
TuG.1 Optical Interference Coatings (OIC) 1998
George Atanassov, Cheng-Chung Lee, Valentine Dimitrova, and Yisheng Dai
MB.6 Optical Interference Coatings (OIC) 1998