Preface The work reviewed in this thesis has been carried out during the years 2005-2009 at the Department of Physics in the University of Jyväskylä. I am most grateful to my supervisor Doc. Kimmo Kainulainen for excellent guidance and support during these years. I have been privileged to share his profound ideas and wide knowledge of particle physics and cosmology. A major part of this work ha...

We have developed a measurement chip installation/removal mechanism for a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) immunoassay analysis instrument designed for frequent testing, which requires a rapid and easy technique for changing chips. The key components of the mechanism are refractive index matching gel coated on the rear of the SPR chip and a float that presses the chip down. The refractive index ...