Milan Vala, Ph.D.

Research interests:

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensors; High-resolution SPR sensors based on long-range surface plasmons; Complex diffractive structures for SPR sensors.

Education:

2006 - 2015: PhD. study in quantum optics and optoelectronics at Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics and at the Institute of Photonics and Electronics, dpt. of Optical Sensors.

Thesis: Complex diffractive structures for surface plasmon resonance sensors
Supervisor: Prof. Jiří Homola, Ph.D., DSc.

2001 - 2006: MSc., Charles University in Prague, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics

Thesis: Guided waves in periodical structures and their sensor applications.
Supervisor: Prof. Jiří Homola, PhD., DSc.

Publications:

Book chapters:   

1.  Adam P., Piliarik M., Šípová H., Špringer T., Vala M. and Homola J., Principles of SPR biosensors, Photonic Sensing: Principles and Applications for Safety and Security Monitoring (Wiley Series in Microwave and Optical Engineering), editors Gaozhi Xiao, Wojtek Bock, 2012.

Journal papers:

1. N. Sharma, C. Petri, U. Jonas, M. Bach, G. Tovar, K. Mrkvová, M. Vala, J. Homola, W. Knoll, J. Dostálek: Molecularly imprinted polymer waveguides for direct optical detection of low molecular weight analytes, Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics, 215, 2295–2304 (2014)
2. M. Vala, J. Homola: Flexible method based on four-beam interference lithography for fabrication of large areas of perfectly periodic plasmonic arrays, Optics Express, 22, 18778–18789 (2014).
3. Toma K., Vala M., Adam P., Homola J., Knoll W. and Dostálek J., Compact surface plasmon-enhanced fluorescence biochip. Optics Express 21(8), 10121-10132 (2013).
4. Vala M., Robelek R., Bockova M., Wegener J., Homola J, Real-time label-free monitoring of the cellular response to osmotic stress using conventional and long-range surface plasmons, Biosensors & Bioelectronics 40 (1), 417-421 (2013).
5. Kvasnicka P., Chadt K., Vala M., Bockova M., Homola J., Toward single-molecule detection with sensors based on propagating surface plasmons, Optics Letters, 37 (2), p.163-165 (2012).
6. H. Vaisocherová, A. D. Taylor, S. Jiang, K. Hegnerová, M. Vala, J. Homola, B. J. Yakes, J. Deeds, S. DeGrasse, Surface Plasmon Resonance Biosensor for Determination of Tetrodotoxin: Prevalidation Study. Journal of AOAC 94 (2), p. 596-604 (2011).
7. M. Vala, K. Chadt, M. Piliarik, J. Homola, High-performance compact SPR sensor for multi-analyte sensing. Sensors and Actuators B: Chem, 148(2), p. 544-549 (2010).
8. M. Piliarik, M. Vala, I. Tichý, J. Homola: Compact and low-cost biosensor based on novel approach to spectroscopy of surface plasmons, Biosensors & Bioelectronics, 24(12), p.3430–3435 (2009).
9. M. Vala, S. Etheridge,  J.A. Roach, J. Homola, Long-range surface plasmons for sensitive detection of bacterial analytes, Sens. Actuators B:Chem., 139(1), p. 59-63 (2009).
10. Vala, M., Dostálek, J., Homola, J., Diffraction grating-coupled surface plasmon resonance sensor based on spectroscopy of long-range and short-range surface plasmons, Proceeding of SPIE, 6585, 2007.

Conference papers:

1. Vala M., Homola J.: Multiple beam interference lithography for preparation of periodic plasmonic arrays, SPIE Optics + Optoelectronics, Prague, Czech Republic, April 13-16, 2015.
2. Vala M., Homola J.: Preparation of sparse periodic plasmonic arrays by multiple-beam interference lithography, Europtrode XII, Athens, Greece, April 13-16, 2014, Proceedings of EUROPT(R)ODE XII, SP-10.
3. Vala M., Robelek R., Bockova M., Wegener J., Homola J.: Monitoring the cellular response to osmotic stress using conventional and long-range surface plasmons. Biosensors 2012, Cancun, Mexico, May 15-18, 2012, Delegate manual P3.113.
4. Toma K., Vala M., Adam P., Homola J., Knoll W., Dostalek J., Plasmon-enhanced fluorescence for portable biosensor devices. Europt(r)ode XI, Barcelona, Spain, April 1-4, 2012, Book of Abstracts, p. 82.
5. Vala M., Spackova B., Kvasnicka P., Homola J.: Plasmonic nanostructure arrays produced by multiple beam interferometry for SPR biosensing. Europt(r)ode XI, Barcelona, Spain, April 1-4, 2012, Book of Abstracts, p. 131.
6. Šípová H., Piliarik M., Vala M., Chadt K., Adam P., Bocková M., Hegnerová K., Homola J.: Portable surface plasmon resonance biosensor for detection of nucleic acids. Eurosensors XXV, Athens, Greece, September 4-7, 2011. 
7. Šípová H., Piliarik M., Vala M., Chadt K., Špringer T., Zhang S., Dudley A. M., Galas D., Wang K., Homola J.: Compact surface plasmon resonance biosensor for detection of nucleic acid biomarkers. SPIE Optics and Optoelectronics 2011, Prague, Czech Republic, April 18-21, 2011.
8. M. Vala, H. Šípová, T. Špringer, K. Chadt, M. Piliarik, J. Homola, Compact multi-channel surface plasmon resonance sensor for rapid detection of bacterial pathogens. Europt(r)ode X, Prague, Czech Rep., 2010, Book of Abstracts, p. 214.
9. M. Piliarik, K. Hegnerová, M. Vala, K. Chadt, I. Tichý, and J. Homola, Compact multi-channel high-sensitivity biosensor based on spectroscopy of surface plasmons, Plasmonics in Biology and Medicine VI, San Jose, CA, USA, 2009, Proceeding of SPIE, Vol. 7192, 719212-20.
10. J. Homola, M. Vala, P. Adam, J. Dostalek, O. Telezhnikova, M. Piliarik, Advances in surface plasmon resonance (SPR) biosensing, The Tenth World Congress on Biosensors (Biosensors 2008), Shanghai, China, May 14-16, 2008, Delegate Manual P2.177
11. M. Vala, S. Etheridge, J.A. Roach, J. Homola, Long-range surface plasmon-based sensors for sensitive detection of large analytes, Europtrode IX, Dublin, Ireland, March 30-April 2, 2008, Book of abstracts.
12. P. Adam, J. Dostálek, M. Vala and J. Homola, Advances in multiple surface plasmon spectroscopy for biosensing, Europtrode IX, Dublin, Ireland, March 30-April 2, 2008, Book of abstracts.
13. M. Vala, J. Dostálek, J. Homola: Diffraction Grating-Coupled Surface Plasmon Resonance Sensor Based on Spectroscopy of Long Range and Short-Range Surface Plasmons, Optics and Optoelectronics 2007, Prague, Czech Republic, April 16-20, 2007.
14. M. Vala, J. Dostálek, J. Homola: Long-range surface plasmon resonance biosensor based on diffraction gratings, The Ninth World Congress on Biosensors (Biosensors 2006), Toronto, Canada, May 10-12, 2006, Delegate Manual, P116.

Patenty:

1. J. Homola, M. Piliarik, I. Tichý, M. Vala, P. Adam, J. Hepnar, K. Chadt: Surface Plasmon Resonance Coupler and Disperser Sensor, United States of America Patent # 8,094,316, 2012.
2. K. Toma, J. Dostalek, W. Knoll, J. Homola, M. Vala, P. Adam: Compact  Biochip  for  Plasmon-Enhanced  Fluorescence  Biosensor, submitted to European Patent Office, EP12168046.