Virus detector harnesses ring of light in ‘whispering gallery mode’

Posted August 24th, 2012 by PCC STEM & filed under Biology, News.

By affixing nanoscale gold spheres onto a microscopic bead of glass, researchers have created a super-sensor that can detect even single samples of the smallest known viruses. The sensor uses a peculiar behavior of light known as "whispering gallery mode," named after the famous circular gallery in St. Paul's Cathedral in London, where a whisper near the wall can be heard around the gallery.

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