Abstract

We present experimental and theoretical results of label-free molecular sensing using the transverse magnetic mode of a 0.22 μm thick silicon slab waveguide with a surface grating implemented in a guided mode resonance configuration. Due to the strong overlap of the evanescent field of the waveguide mode with a molecular layer attached to the surface, these sensors exhibit high sensitivity, while their fabrication and packaging requirements are modest. Experimentally, we demonstrate a resonance wavelength shift of ~1 nm when a monolayer of the protein streptavidin is attached to the surface, in good agreement with calculations based on rigorous coupled wave analysis. In our current optical setup this shift corresponds to an estimated limit of detection of 0.2% of a monolayer of streptavidin.

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History
Original Manuscript: August 19, 2009
Manuscript Accepted: September 20, 2009
Revised Manuscript: September 20, 2009
Published: September 25, 2009

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Author Affiliations

J. H. Schmid, W. Sinclair, S. Janz, J. Lapointe, D. Poitras, P. Cheben, A. Delâge, A. Densmore, P. Waldron, D.-X. Xu

Institute for Microstructural Sciences, National Research Council Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0R6

Y. Li, T. Mischki, G. Lopinski

Steacie Institute for Molecular Sciences, National Research Council Canada, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0R6

J. García

Valencia Nanophotonics Technology Center, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, 46022 Valencia, Spain

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