Microresonator Measures and Images Nanoparticles with High Degree of Sensitivity

Scientists at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) Graduate University have developed a light-based device that can act as a biosensor, detecting biological substances in materials, such as harmful pathogens in food. The scientists said that their tool, an optical microresonator, is 280× more sensitive than current industry-standard biosensors, which can detect only cumulative effects of groups of particles, not individual molecules. Microresonators are central to a new method for single-particle photothermal absorption spectroscopy, whereby the microresonators act as microscale thermometers to detect the heat dissipated by optically pumped, nanoscopic targets. However, translation of this technology to...