Towards outperforming conventional sensor arrays with fabricated individual photonic vapour sensors inspired by Morpho butterflies.
Potyrailo, RA; Bonam, RK; Hartley, JG; et al.Starkey, TA; Vukusic, P; Vasudev, M; Bunning, T; Naik, RR; Tang, Z; Palacios, MA; Larsen, M; Le Tarte, LA; Grande, JC; Zhong, S; Deng, T
Date: 1 September 2015
Article
Journal
Nature Communications
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group: Nature Communications
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Abstract
Combining vapour sensors into arrays is an accepted compromise to mitigate poor selectivity of conventional sensors. Here we show individual nanofabricated sensors that not only selectively detect separate vapours in pristine conditions but also quantify these vapours in mixtures, and when blended with a variable moisture background. ...
Combining vapour sensors into arrays is an accepted compromise to mitigate poor selectivity of conventional sensors. Here we show individual nanofabricated sensors that not only selectively detect separate vapours in pristine conditions but also quantify these vapours in mixtures, and when blended with a variable moisture background. Our sensor design is inspired by the iridescent nanostructure and gradient surface chemistry of Morpho butterflies and involves physical and chemical design criteria. The physical design involves optical interference and diffraction on the fabricated periodic nanostructures and uses optical loss in the nanostructure to enhance the spectral diversity of reflectance. The chemical design uses spatially controlled nanostructure functionalization. Thus, while quantitation of analytes in the presence of variable backgrounds is challenging for most sensor arrays, we achieve this goal using individual multivariable sensors. These colorimetric sensors can be tuned for numerous vapour sensing scenarios in confined areas or as individual nodes for distributed monitoring.
Physics and Astronomy
Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy
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