Table 1.

Light source features and their implementation in SPR sensor platforms.

No	Feature	Incandescent Lamp	Gas Laser	Laser Diode	LED	OLED
1	Size	Bulky	Bulky	Small	Small	Small
2	Color	Polychromatic	Monochromatic	Monochromatic	Polychromatic	Polychromatic
3	Disposability	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
4	Detection method possibility	λ int., intensity mod.	θ int., intensity mod., phase int.	θ int., intensity mod., phase int.	λ int., intensity mod.	λ int., intensity mod.
5	Incident light	Convergent, divergent	Convergent, rotating	Convergent, rotating	Convergent, divergent	Convergent, divergent
6	Component of optical alignment	Lens, fiber optic	Lens, fiber optic Motor	Lens, fiber optic Motor	Lens, fiber optic	Microstructure film
7	Light source alignment	Hard	Hard	Moderate	Moderate	Simple
8	Drawback	Self-heating, size, lifetime, stability	Self-heating, size, stability	Self-heating, stability	Self-heating, stability	Technology maturity