A research team consisting of Professor Kyoung-Duck Park and PhD candidates Taeyoung Moon and Huitae Joo from the Department of Physics at Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) has designed a “high-bandwidth nanogap gold spectroscopic sensor.” wide” using a flexible material capable of Bending to create a controlled space. With the technology developed, it is possible to rapidly test various types of materials, including infectious disease viruses, using a single nanospectroscopic sensor to find molecular fingerprints.
The emergence of pandemic epidemics such as COVID-19 has highlighted the need for rapid and accurate analytical methods to prepare for possible future viral outbreaks. Raman spectroscopy, using gold nanostructures, provides information on the internal structure and chemical properties of materials by analyzing the different vibrations of molecules known as “molecular fingerprints”, using light with remarkable sensitivity. Therefore, it could play a crucial role in determining the positivity of a virus.
However, conventional high-sensitivity Raman spectroscopy sensors detect only one type of virus with a single device, which poses limitations in terms of productivity, detection speed, and cost when considering clinical applications.
The research team successfully fabricated a one-dimensional millimeter-scale structure, with gold nanospaces accommodating just one molecule with a perfect fit. This advancement enables high-sensitivity, large-area Raman spectroscopic detection. Furthermore, they effectively integrated flexible materials into the gold nanogap spectroscopic sensor substrate. Finally, the team developed a source technology for a broadband active nanospectral sensor, which allows personalized detection of specific substances using a single device, expanding the nanogap to the size of a virus and freely adjusting its width to adapt to the size and type of materials, including viruses.
Additionally, they improved the sensitivity and controllability of the sensor by combining adaptive optics technology used in fields such as space optics, such as the James Webb Telescope. Furthermore, they established a conceptual model to extend the fabricated one-dimensional structure to a two-dimensional spectroscopic sensor, theoretically confirming the ability to amplify Raman spectroscopic signals up to several billion times. In other words, it is possible to confirm the positivity of viruses in real time in a matter of seconds, a process that previously took days of verification.
The research team’s achievements, currently pending patent approval, are expected to be used for rapid response through high-sensitivity real-time testing in case of unexpected infectious diseases such as COVID-19, to prevent indiscriminate spread. Taeyoung Moon, lead author of the paper, emphasized the importance of their achievement by stating: “This not only advances basic scientific research in identifying unique properties of materials, from molecules to viruses, but also facilitates practical applications, enabling the “rapid detection of a broad spectrum of emerging viruses using a single custom sensor.”
The collaborative research was carried out jointly with the team of Professor Dai-Sik Kim from the Department of Physics at UNIST and a team led by Professor Yung Doug Suh from the Department of Chemistry at UNIST, Deputy Director of the Center for Carbon Materials Multidimensional of the Institute of Basic Sciences (IBS). ). Additionally, Yeonjeong Koo, Mingu Kang and Hyeongwoo Lee from POSTECH’s Physics Department carried out measurements. The results of the research have recently been published in the international journal. Nano letters.