US Patent 7705989 - Surface plasmon nanosensor pads

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/7705989.html

This patent teaches a variation of an SPR sensor for detecting biological and chemical specimens. Claim 1 reads:

1. A surface plasmon microsensor or nanosensor for chemical or biological species, comprising:

metallic, cylindrical pads distributed on the surface of a support, the pads having a thickness between 10 nm and 500 nm and configured to immobilize the chemical or biological species, and the pads having a dimension, other than the thickness, that is less than 1 micron.