Surface plasmon sensor having a coupler with a refractive index matching liquid
First Claim
1. A surface plasmon sensor, comprising:
- i) a sensor unit provided with a transparent substrate, which has a predetermined refractive index, and a metal film, which is located on one surface side of said transparent substrate, andii) a coupler means located on the other surface side of said transparent substrate, which surface side is opposite to said one surface, with a refractive index matching liquid, which has a refractive index approximately equal to said predetermined refractive index, intervening between said transparent substrate and said coupler means,said coupler means having a light beam entry portion, which is formed at a portion of said coupler means, and a light beam radiating portion, which is formed at a different portion of said coupler means, such that said coupler means transmit a light beam having been entered from said light beam entry portion, cause the transmitted light beam to impinge upon an interface between said transparent substrate and said metal film, transmit the light beam having been totally reflected from said interface, and then radiate the totally reflected light beam out of said light beam radiating portion, portions of said coupler means, which transmit the light beam, having a refractive index approximately equal to said predetermined refractive index,the surface plasmon sensor causing the light beam to enter from said light beam entry portion and detecting an attenuated total reflection angle θ
sp from the light beam, which has been totally reflected from said interface and has then been radiated out of said light beam radiating portion,wherein a sensor unit support means is provided, said sensor unit support means supporting said sensor unit such that a distance between said transparent substrate and said coupler means be kept to be equal to a predetermined value, andwherein the space between said transparent substrate and said coupler means is filled with said refractive index matching liquid.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A surface plasmon sensor comprises a sensor unit, which is provided with a transparent substrate and a metal film, and a coupler, which carries out light beam coupling and is separate from the sensor unit. A light beam is entered from a light beam entry portion of the coupler, and an attenuated total reflection angle θsp is detected from the light beam, which has been totally reflected from an interface between the transparent substrate and the metal film and has then been radiated out of a light beam radiating portion of the coupler. The sensor unit is supported by a sensor unit attachment such that a distance between the transparent substrate and the coupler may be kept to be equal to a predetermined value. The space between the transparent substrate and the coupler is filled with a refractive index matching liquid. Fitting of the sensor unit in the surface plasmon sensor is easy to carry out, and the relationship between positions of the sensor unit and the coupler can be kept constant.
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Citations
46 Claims
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1. A surface plasmon sensor, comprising:
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i) a sensor unit provided with a transparent substrate, which has a predetermined refractive index, and a metal film, which is located on one surface side of said transparent substrate, and ii) a coupler means located on the other surface side of said transparent substrate, which surface side is opposite to said one surface, with a refractive index matching liquid, which has a refractive index approximately equal to said predetermined refractive index, intervening between said transparent substrate and said coupler means, said coupler means having a light beam entry portion, which is formed at a portion of said coupler means, and a light beam radiating portion, which is formed at a different portion of said coupler means, such that said coupler means transmit a light beam having been entered from said light beam entry portion, cause the transmitted light beam to impinge upon an interface between said transparent substrate and said metal film, transmit the light beam having been totally reflected from said interface, and then radiate the totally reflected light beam out of said light beam radiating portion, portions of said coupler means, which transmit the light beam, having a refractive index approximately equal to said predetermined refractive index, the surface plasmon sensor causing the light beam to enter from said light beam entry portion and detecting an attenuated total reflection angle θ
sp from the light beam, which has been totally reflected from said interface and has then been radiated out of said light beam radiating portion,wherein a sensor unit support means is provided, said sensor unit support means supporting said sensor unit such that a distance between said transparent substrate and said coupler means be kept to be equal to a predetermined value, and wherein the space between said transparent substrate and said coupler means is filled with said refractive index matching liquid. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A surface plasmon sensor, comprising:
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i) a sensor unit provided with a transparent substrate, which has a predetermined refractive index, and a metal film, which is located on one surface side of said transparent substrate, and ii) a coupler means located on the other surface side of said transparent substrate, which surface side is opposite to said one surface, with a refractive index matching liquid, which has a refractive index approximately equal to said predetermined refractive index, intervening between said transparent substrate and said coupler means, said coupler means having a light beam entry portion, which is formed at a portion of said coupler means, and a light beam radiating portion, which is formed at a different portion of said coupler means, such that said coupler means transmit a light beam having been entered from said light beam entry portion, cause the transmitted light beam to impinge upon an interface between said transparent substrate and said metal film, transmit the light beam having been totally reflected from said interface, and then radiate the totally reflected light beam out of said light beam radiating portion, portions of said coupler means, which transmit the light beam, having a refractive index approximately equal to said predetermined refractive index, the surface plasmon sensor causing the light beam to enter from said light beam entry portion and detecting an attenuated total reflection angle θ
sp from the light beam, which has been totally reflected from said interface and has then been radiated out of said light beam radiating portion,wherein a sensor unit support means is provided, said sensor unit support means supporting said sensor unit such that a distance between said transparent substrate and said coupler means be kept to be equal to a predetermined value, wherein the space between said transparent substrate and said coupler means is filled with said refractive index matching liquid, and wherein the surface plasmon sensor further comprises either one or both of an incidence position shifting means and a sensor unit relative movement means, said incidence position shifting means shifting the incidence position of the light beam at said light beam entry portion such that the light beam successively impinge upon different portions of said interface, which are taken along a predetermined direction, and under the same incidence conditions, said sensor unit relative movement means moving said sensor unit with respect to said coupler means and along a predetermined direction such that said distance between said transparent substrate and said coupler means be kept to be equal to the predetermined value. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
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41. A surface plasmon sensor, comprising:
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i) a sensor unit provided with a transparent substrate, which has a predetermined refractive index, and a metal film, which is located on one surface side of said transparent substrate and brought into contact with a sample, ii) a coupler means located on the other surface side of said transparent substrate, which surface side is opposite to said one surface, with a refractive index matching liquid, which has a refractive index approximately equal to said predetermined refractive index, intervening between said transparent substrate and said coupler means, said coupler means having a light beam entry portion, which is formed at a portion of said coupler means, and a light beam radiating portion, which is formed at a different portion of said coupler means, such that said coupler means transmit a light beam having been entered from said light beam entry portion, cause the transmitted light beam to impinge upon an interface between said transparent substrate and said metal film, transmit the light beam having been totally reflected from said interface, and then radiate the totally reflected light beam out of said light beam radiating portion, portions of said coupler means, which transmit the light beam, having a refractive index approximately equal to said predetermined refractive index, and iii) a light source for producing the light beam, the surface plasmon sensor collimating the light beam, which has been produced by said light source, causing the collimated light beam to enter from said light beam entry portion, and detecting an attenuated total reflection angle θ
sp from the light beam, which has been totally reflected from said interface and has then been radiated out of said light beam radiating portion,wherein each of said light beam entry portion and said light beam radiating portion is constituted of a hologram optical element. - View Dependent Claims (42, 43, 44, 45, 46)
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Specification