ANFF VIC Publication of the Year announced
Research carried out by Dr Daniel Langley and colleagues based at the La Trobe Institute for Molecular Sciences (LIMS) has been selected as the 2017 ANFF VIC Publication of the Year.
The research team’s paper Optical Chemical Barcoding Based on Polarization Controlled Plasmonic Nanopixels was chosen as the winner by ANFF VIC’s selection panel due to its impact, pioneering nature and level of engagement with MCN.
Daniel Peter Langley, Eugeniu Balaur, Yongsop Hwang, Catherine Sadatnajafi, and Brian Abbey are all mentioned as authors, and the group will be awarded a $200 cash prize.
The team was investigating the combination of microfluidics with plasmonic devices to create a chemical sensor by monitoring changes in refractive index. The optical sensors are tunable, and can therefore cover a broad range of indices, whilst maintaining a high sensitivity within the visible spectrum.
Different chemicals and compounds have different refractive indices so – once a library of “chemical barcodes” is assembled – the devices can be used to detect different chemicals in a sample quickly and in a non-destructive fashion by comparing the new data from the unidentified chemical with the signatures of known substances.
The team used MCN’s E-beam deposition equipment to deposit chrome and silver on quartz wafers, FIB-SEM to pattern nanoscale apertures in metal films and a Microspectroscope to analyse the spectral output of devices at different polarisations of light.
View the original publication here.
ANFF VIC publications in 2017
All papers that were published in 2017 that correctly acknowledged MCN/ANFF VIC were eligible for selection in this year’s Publication of the Year competition. The near 150 papers were whittled down to a shortlist, where Daniel and the team’s paper crept ahead of an incredibly strong field.
In addition to qualifying for the ANFF VIC publication competition, papers that correctly acknowledge MCN are entitled to a $200 user credit that is added to future project funds at the Centre. Authors of papers that are used on the cover of peer-reviewed journals can claim an additional $500 user credit. Click here for more information.
In total, the incentive scheme has handed out $18,000 in user credits to be used at MCN. In 2017 alone, $8,500 was claimed by just 18 MCN/ANFF VIC users.
