The National Science Foundation awarded a $238,688 Project Grant to the Missouri University of Science and Technology under the Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) to develop a new type of biomolecule sensing platform enhanced by infrared chiral metasurfaces. The university will design and analyze various mid-infrared chiral metasurfaces with high circular dichroism for biomolecule sensing. Nanofabrication processes will be developed to fabricate the chiral metasurfaces and integrate microfluidic cells containing protein solutions. Chiral biopolymer sensing capabilities will be characterized using infrared chiroptical measurements to demonstrate the ultrasensitive identification and detection of protein secondary structures. This work aims to benefit applications in early disease diagnosis, pharmaceutical drug discovery, quantum sensing, and remote communication by establishing a new chiroptical sensing paradigm relying on resonant interactions between superchiral near-fields and vibrational fingerprints of chiral biomolecules.
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