Surface impedance imaging methods and apparatuses

1. A method of imaging surface impedance, comprising:

providing a sample block having a surface that is coated with a metal film;

disposing a solution in contact with the metal film;

providing a first electrode in contact with the solution and spaced apart from the metal film;

activating a light source configured to provide light that excites Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) of the metal film;

applying a modulated potential between the metal film and the first electrode;

capturing a sequence of images of the SPR of the metal film; and

time correlating the sequence of images to the modulated potential to determine one or more electrical properties of the metal-solution interface that correspond to the response of the SPR of the metal film to the modulated potential.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

generating an image of an amplitude component of the AC response of the SPR and an image of a phase component of the AC response of the SPR.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

generating an image of the DC response of the SPR.

4. The method of claim 2 , further comprising:

generating an image of the surface impedance of the metal film from the AC response of the SPR of the metal film to the modulated potential.

5. The method of claim 1 , where the sample block is at least partially transparent to light from the light source.

6. The method of claim 5 , where the SPR of the metal film is excited using a Kretschmann configuration or an Otto configuration.

7. The method of claim 1 , where the metal film comprises an ordered pattern, and where the SPR of the metal film is excited using an optical grating configuration.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

providing a second electrode in contact with the solution;

where, when applying the modulated potential, the first electrode acts as a reference electrode, the second electrode acts as a counter electrode, and the metal film acts as a working electrode.

9. The method of claim 1 , where the modulated potential comprises an oscillating potential superimposed on a predetermined potential value.

10. The method of claim 1 , where the sequence of images is captured with a charge-coupled device (CCD) detector or a complementary metal-oxide semonductor (CMOS) detector).

11. The method of claim 1 , where an analyte is adsorbed on the metal film.

12. The method of claim 11 , where the solution comprises the analyte and where the analyte adsorbs on the metal film from the solution.

13. The method of claim 11 , where the analyte is selected from the group consisting of: cells, bacteria, and viruses.

14. The method of claim 1 , where the solution comprises an electrolyte.

15. The method of claim 1 , where applying the modulated potential comprises:

selecting a potential with a potentiostat; and

modulating the selected potential with a function generator.

16. An apparatus for imaging surface impedance, comprising:

a sample support configured to support a sample block having a surface that is coated with a metal film, the sample support configured to support a sample block such that a solution can be disposed in contact with the metal film of the sample block;

a light source configured to provide light that can excite Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) of the metal film of a supported sample block;

a first electrode configured to be disposed in contact with a solution and spaced apart from the metal film of a supported sample block;

a modulated potential source coupled to the first electrode and configured to be coupled to the metal film of a sample block such that the modulated potential source is activatable to provide a modulated potential between the metal film and the first electrode;

an imaging device configured to capture a sequence of images of SPR of the metal film of a supported sample block;

a processor coupled to the modulated potential source and to the imaging device, the processor configured to receive a sequence of images of SPR of the metal film of a supported sample block and to determine one or more electrical properties of the metal-solution interface that correspond to the response of the SPR of the metal film to the modulated potential by time correlating the sequence of images to the modulated potential.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 , where the processor is further configured to generate an image of an amplitude component of the AC response of the SPR and an image of a phase component of the AC response of the SPR.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 , where the processor is further configured to generate an image of the DC response of the SPR.

19. The apparatus of claim 17 , where the processor is further configured to generate an image of the surface impedance of the metal film from the AC response of the SPR of the metal film to the modulated potential.

20. The apparatus of claim 16 , where the sample block is at least partially transparent to light from the light source.

21. The apparatus of claim 20 , where the apparatus is configured to support a sample block and to excite SPR of the metal film of a supported sample block in a Kretschmann configuration.

22. The apparatus of claim 20 , where the apparatus is configured to support a sample block and to excite SPR of the metal film of a supported sample block in an Otto configuration.

23. The apparatus of claim 16 , where the apparatus is configured to support a sample block on which the metal film comprises an ordered pattern, and where the apparatus is configured to excite SPR of the metal film of a supported sample block in an optical grating configuration.

24. The apparatus of claim 16 , further comprising:

a second electrode coupled to the modulated potential source and configured to be disposed in contact with a solution and spaced apart from the metal film of a supported sample block;

where, if the modulated potential source is activated to apply a modulated potential between the first electrode and the metal film of a supported sample block, the first electrode acts as a reference electrode, the second electrode acts as a counter electrode, and the metal film acts as a working electrode.

25. The apparatus of claim 16 , where the modulated potential source comprises a potentiostat configured to select the value of a modulated potential to be applied by the modulated potential source.

26. The apparatus of claim 25 , where the modulated potential source comprises a signal generator to modulate the selected potential value.

27. The apparatus of claim 26 , where the modulated potential source is configured to provide an oscillating potential superimposed on a selected potential value.

28. The apparatus of claim 16 , where the light source comprises one or more light-emitting diodes (LEDs), lasers, or super-luminescence diodes (SLDs).

29. The apparatus of claim 16 , where the imaging device comprises a charge-coupled device (CCD) detector or a complementary metal-oxide semonductor (CMOS) detector.