Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors exploit optical coupling to surface plasmons, light waves bound to a
metal surface. In the most common configuration, a SPR sensor is used with an external light source, optical
components to polarize incident light and guide light to and from a metal surface, a coupling device to convert
free-space light into surface plasmons and back into free-space light, and a light detector. The light source,
the optical components, and the light detector are external to the SPR device, and the coupling structure is
often integrated directly with the surface-plasmon-sustaining metal surface. The requirement of several external
components restricts the miniaturization of SPR devices and prohibits low-cost implementation. To address
these limitations, we design, fabricate, and test a new SPR device chip that is fibre-addressable, does not require
a discrete coupling structure, and integrates light delivery, light polarization control, surface plasmon coupling
onto a thin, flexible substrate. Our SPR chip is constructed from a thin gold layer deposited on top of a clear
plastic sheet, which is then optically connected from the bottom surface onto a plastic linear polarizer sheet.
Two cleaved fibres, one to input light and the other to collect reflected light, are then optically attached to SPR
device. We experimentally characterize the SPR device and find good agreement between our measurements and
a theoretical model based on transfer matrix formalism.
Water droplets are an attractive medium to realize visible-frequency optical elements. The smoothness of a
droplet surface mitigates losses due to light scattering, the shape of a water droplet is reconfigurable by either
applying pressure or a potential, water is nearly transparent over the visible frequency range, and water is highly
abundant. Here, we explore a simple methodology to dispense and shape water droplets for application as the
magnifying element in a microscope using either reflection-mode or transmission-mode illumination. A water
droplet is created at the end of a syringe and then coated with a thin layer of silicone oil to mitigate evaporation.
By applying mechanical pressure to the water droplet using a metal tip, the shape of the droplet is tuned to
yield focusing properties amenable for microscopy. Images captured using the microscope demonstrate micron-scale
resolution, variable magnification, and imaging quality comparable to that obtained by a conventional,
laboratory-grade microscope.
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