Optical wavelength resonant device for chemical sensing

1. An apparatus for detecting the presence and concentration of matter in contact with a surface structure optical filter by observation of a shift in the wavelength of filtered electromagnetic waves, the apparatus comprising:

a first substrate having a surface relief structure containing at least one dielectric body with physical dimensions smaller than the wavelength of the filtered electromagnetic waves, such structures repeated in a one or two dimensional array covering at least a portion of the surface of the first substrate, said surface relief structures of the substrate being composed of or immersed in a material sufficient to form a guided mode resonance filter; and

a sample material deposited on the surface relief structures, thereby producing an observable shift in the wavelength of the filtered electromagnetic waves in proportion to the amount of sample material accumulated.

2. An apparatus as in claim 1 , wherein the spacing of the surface relief structures in the array is substantially the same and less than the wavelength of the filtered electromagnetic waves.

3. An apparatus as in claim 1 , wherein the individual dielectric bodies in the surface texture are arranged in a two dimensional array forming a honeycomb pattern with circular symmetry.

4. An apparatus as in claim 1 , wherein the individual dielectric bodies in the surface texture are circularly shaped.

5. An apparatus as in claim 1 , wherein the propagation direction of electromagnetic waves resonantly reflected from the surface structures, or transmitted through the substrate, is not materially altered by the accumulation of sample material on the surface structures.

6. An apparatus as in claim 1 , wherein the individual dielectric bodies comprising the surface texture have cylindrical, elliptical, square, rectangular, or octagonal cross sectional profiles.

7. An apparatus as in claim 1 , wherein the individual dielectric bodies comprising the surface texture are lines with a width less than the wavelength of the filtered electromagnetic waves and a length substantially equivalent to the apparatus dimension, repeated in an array with a spacing less than the wavelength of the filtered electromagnetic waves.

8. An apparatus as in claim 1 , wherein the substrate comprises glass or plastic.

9. An apparatus as in claim 1 , wherein the dielectric bodies comprising the surface relief structures are comprised of a material selected from the group consisting of zinc sulfide, titanium oxide, tantalum oxide, and silicon nitride.

10. An apparatus as in claim 1 , wherein the surface relief structure is a conductive material.

11. An apparatus as in claim 1 further comprising a conductive material to allow an electric field to be applied.

12. An apparatus as in claim 1 , further comprising a second resonant structure coupled to the first substrate to provide a static reference signal which can be used to determine the difference between a shifted signal due to a deposited material layer and a shifted signal due to varying ambient conditions.

13. An apparatus as in claim 1 , wherein the sample material comprises an organic substance.

14. An apparatus as in claim 1 , wherein the sample material comprises an inorganic substance.

15. An apparatus for detecting the concentration of matter in a material layer by observation of a shift in the wavelength of filtered electromagnetic waves, the apparatus comprising:

a substrate having a surface relief structure containing at least one dielectric body with physical dimensions smaller than the wavelength of the filtered electromagnetic waves, such structures repeated in a one or two dimensional array covering at least a portion of the surface of the substrate; and

a material coating the surface relief structures of the substrate to form a guided mode resonance filter; and

a top material layer which adheres or chemically binds to a sample material thereby producing an observable shift in the wavelength of the filtered electromagnetic waves.

16. An apparatus as in claim 15 , wherein the spacing of the surface relief structures in the array is substantially the same and less than the wavelength of the filtered electromagnetic waves.

17. An apparatus as in claim 15 , wherein the bodies comprising the surface relief structure are arranged in a two-dimensional pattern such as a honeycomb.

18. An apparatus as in claim 15 , wherein the surface relief structure is composed of a conductive material suitable for applying an electric field.

19. An apparatus as in claim 15 , further comprising a second resonant structure coupled to the first substrate to provide a static reference signal which can be used to determine the difference between a shifted signal due to a deposited material layer and a shifted signal due to varying ambient conditions.

20. An apparatus as in claim 15 , wherein the individual dielectric bodies comprising the surface texture have cylindrical, elliptical, square, rectangular, or octagonal cross sectional profiles.

21. An apparatus as in claim 15 , wherein the individual dielectric bodies in the surface texture are lines with a width less than the wavelength of the filtered electromagnetic waves and a length substantially equivalent to the apparatus dimension, repeated in an array with a spacing less than the wavelength of the filtered electromagnetic waves.

22. An apparatus as in claim 15 , wherein the substrate comprises glass or plastic.

23. An apparatus as in claim 15 , wherein the dielectric bodies comprising the surface relief structures are comprised of a material selected from the group consisting of zinc sulfide, titanium oxide, tantalum oxide, and silicon nitride.

24. An apparatus as in claim 15 , wherein the sample material comprises an organic substance.

25. An apparatus as in claim 15 , wherein the sample material comprises an inorganic substance.