We describe the basis for an affinity biosensor platform in which enhanced fluorescence transduction occurs through the optical excitation of molecules located within metallic nanocavities. These nanocavities are about 200 nm in diameter and are arranged in a periodic or random two-dimensional (2D) arrays, which are fabricated in 70 nm-thick gold films by e-beam lithography using negative e-beam
... [Show full abstract] resist. The experimental results show that both periodic and randomly placed metallic nanoapertures can be used to enhance the output of a fluorescing molecular monolayer by more than a factor of 10.