Enantio-selective sensing using plasmonic racemic arrays (Conference Presentation)

We present a novel plasmonic sensor configuration that allows the discrimination of chiral molecules. The sensor consists of handed gold nanostructures of gammadion shape, distributed in a racemic (50/50 mixture) matrix with C4 symmetry. Its optical response enhances the interaction with molecules thus circular dichroism can be measured in the visible range. The bare sensors exhibit a flat CD signal, providing background-free CD measurements for molecular detection. We have used a chiral molecular model based on L-, D-, and the racemic mixture of phenylalanine, which allows us to evaluate the opposite chiral effects while having a reference system. Additionally, we have used molecular thermal evaporation technique to deposit a dense molecular layer on top of the sensors in a controllable and reproducible way. Our results show the discrimination of phenylalanine enantiomers through positive or negative peaks while the racemic mixture shows a flat signal. In addition, we present preliminary results that show that this approach is also suitable for microfluidics systems with a much lower density of chiral molecules.