Surface plasmon resonance biosensors based on Kretschmann configuration: basic instrumentation and applications

Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR) offers a powerful tool for label-free and non-invasive characterization of biomolecular interactions. To date, several experimental configurations, based on two fundamental physical phenomena, e.g., attenuated total reflection and diffraction, have been developed to measure the SPR signal generated due to the resonant interactions between incident light and plasma waves on the metal surface. These configurations are divided into three categories: grating-based, prism-based, and waveguide-based coupling. Among such techniques, one of the prism-based SPR coupling schemes, popularly known as Kretschmann configuration, is most widely used due to its high sensitivity, operational simplicity, lower cost, and real-time detection. This chapter explains the basic instrumentation and reviews the recent trends in the development of Kretschmann configuration-based SPR biosensors with its applications.