First Observation of Surface Plasmon-Coupled Emission Due to LED Excitation

Detection limitations for fluorescence methods are normally determined by the phenomenon itself rather than the sensitivity of the instrumentation. These limitations make it necessary to have high sensitivity, high cost equipment causing fluorescence methods to remain lab-oriented. Alleviation of the limitations can be achieved through the phenomenon of surface plasmon-coupled emission (SPCE), which displays enhanced, directional, polarized fluorescence. Here we present the excitation of SPCE from Rhodamine B with a light-emitting diode (LED). Incorporating the gains in sensitivity due to SPCE with LED excitation, it could be possible to design low-cost, high-sensitivity sensors that would allow measurements to be performed in the field.