Surface plasmons: Optical antennas for sensing.

The article reports that U.S. researchers have devised a new type of sensor called a plasmonic optical-antenna fiber probe. It can perform in situ chemical and biological detection and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). The researchers from Harvard University connect one end of the probe to both a spectrometer and a light source while the other end is inserted into a fluid or biological specimen.