Enhancement of Sensitivity of Radio Frequency Based Biomolecule Detection in the Presence of Gold Nanoparticles: A Feasibility Study

In this work, the role of gold nanoparticles in enhancing the sensitivity of Radio Frequency based biomolecule detection is assessed. A facile, efficient and rapid microstrip patch antenna based sensor, resonating at 61.747 GHz is utilized for the analysis. Gold nanoparticles are placed in the vicinity of biomolecules, and the extent of improvement is studied under various conditions. In particular, different morphological variations and arrangements of gold particles are investigated. The results indicate that, in general, the presence of gold nanoparticles contributes towards sensitivity improvement. However, the amount of enhancement strongly depends upon the morphological features and arrangements of gold particles and varies within 5-65% for the scenarios studied in this case.