Hybrid plasmonic/photonic crystals for optical detection of bacterial contaminants

Here, we show that a hybrid plasmonic/photonic crystal consisting of a thin layer of bioactive plasmonic material (i.e. silver) deposited on top a 1D PhC can detect one of the most common bacterial contaminant, namely Escherichia coli. We speculate that the change in the plasmon charge density brought about by metal/bacterium interaction results in a variation of the plasmon resonance that, in turns, translates in a shift of the photonic structural color.