0
$\begingroup$

I have been interested in researching a lot about surface plasmon resonance (SPR) and I was wondering exactly how the thickness and the size of the prism affects the results? I could not find an equations or recommendations regarding how these factors might affect the SPR setup. Does this mean that I could in theory create a very tiny prism with thin layer of metal and a small laser and still get accurate results?

Like I found many articles that gave the following type of information below, but not much was mentioned about the size and thickness of prism. I am still new to this topic so I was also wondering what are the best resources about the parameters and how they affect the SPR setup.

enter image description here

enter image description here

Improve this question
$\endgroup$

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
0
$\begingroup$

The prism can be as large or small as you like, as long as it can give the light the correct momentum vector for launching a surface plasmon.

Generally I'd suggest that a smaller prism is better because depositing the metal coating tends to be expensive. But practically speaking, it can't be too small, because the faces of the prism will need to be large enough to let the collimated light beam pass without clipping the edges, otherwise you'll get interference in your wave vector (though I don't know whether this effect would be noticeable in practice.)

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
2
  • $\begingroup$ But apart from the size of the prism, does shape not have any impact on the results? In the diagram above, it looks triangular shaped. But Ive seen semi-circle shaped ones as well. $\endgroup$
    – lionheart
    Sep 15, 2020 at 21:21
  • $\begingroup$ The shape of the prism affects the required angle of incidence for the light on the outside the prism. If it's a triangular prism, the beam will refract, and so you need to take that into account in your experiment. If it's a semicircular surface, the beam will not refract, but it will slightly change the location of the beam's focus. $\endgroup$
    – ptomato
    Sep 17, 2020 at 0:41

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.