Synthesis of gold nanodisks through nanoimprint lithography and their application to imaging probe for intraocular lens

Abstract

Localized surface plasmon resonance, which is one of the unique electromagnetic properties of nanoparticles, generates high optical signals under specific resonance condition. Many applications have been made using this phenomenon in the fields of imaging and sensors. In particular, gold nanoparticles are biocompatible and superior in chemical stability compared to other metals, and are widely used in bio applications such as cancer heat treatment, drug delivery, and bio imaging. Meanwhile, with the development of these characteristics of gold nanoparticles and the development of IoT, sensors using gold nanoparticles are also being actively researched on wearable devices. In this thesis, we proposed smart lens with an optical sensor using gold nanoparticles that can be measured by optical coherence tomography, which is currently used in ophthalmology. As a preceeding research, we offered an effective imaging probe for optical coherence tomography in intraocular lens. Previous research on gold nanoparticles focused on gold nanospheres and nanorods, but in this thesis, gold nanodisks are optimized for optical coherence tomography imaging and their efficiency are compared to commercialized gold nanorods in an actual intraocular lens. The gold nanodisks were synthesized through nanoimprint lithography and their accuracy and homogeneity were confirmed, and it was confirmed that the imaging efficiency was higher than that of the gold nanorod with the same resonance condition when mounted in the intraocular lens.