Functional 2D nanomaterials for optoelectronics based on langmuir bacteriorhodopsin films

Abstract

We have tested the possibility of using monomolecular layers of bacteriorhodopsin (BR) for the synthesis of highly sensitive and highly selective sensors based on second harmonic generation and surface plasma waves. We have used various methods to study the optical and nonlinear optical properties of Langmuir-Blodgett films of BR in order to clarify the extent to which specific properties of BR molecules are retained during their transfer from the surface of water to a solid substrate. We show that the second harmonic generation method is efficient for analyzing the molecular orientation and quality of Langmuir-Blodgett films. The experimental nonlinear optical susceptibility of second order BR molecules is 3.4·10−11m/V. The relative change in the resonant wave vector is (3.6±0.1)·10−2 at an excitation light wavelength of 630nm. We have obtained a BR spectrum with the effective excitation by incident radiation of surface plasma waves. On the basis of these studies, we have proposed new schemes of biosensors operating on the basis of second harmonic generation and surface plasma resonance caused by fundamental frequency reflection from BR monomolecular layers. This scheme was tested for a model device and demonstrated the possibility of obtaining sensitivities of the order of 1011 molecules/cm3.