Integrated Optical Mach-Zehnder Interferometer Based on Organic-Inorganic Hybrids for Photonics-on-a-Chip Biosensing Applications

Sensors

Marta Tacão¹  João P. da Costa²  Paulo S. André³  Rute A. S. Ferreira⁴  Rui Oliveira-Silva⁴  Carlos M. S. Vicente⁴  Nuno J. O. Silva⁴  Ana R. Bastos⁴  Mário Lima⁵ 

[1] Department of Biology and CESAM, University of Aveiro, 3810–193 Aveiro, Portugal;Department of Chemistry and CESAM, University of Aveiro, 3810–193 Aveiro, Portugal;Department of Electric and Computer Engineering and Instituto de Telecomunicações, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisbon, Portugal;Department of Physics and CICECO—Aveiro Institute of Materials, University of Aveiro, 3810–193 Aveiro, Portugal;Instituto de Telecomunicações, University of Aveiro, 3810–193 Aveiro, Portugal;

关键词: photonic;    integrated optics;    sol-gel;    biosensors;    E. coli;    organic-inorganic hybrid;   

DOI  :  10.3390/s18030840

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

The development of portable low-cost integrated optics-based biosensors for photonics-on-a-chip devices for real-time diagnosis are of great interest, offering significant advantages over current analytical methods. We report the fabrication and characterization of an optical sensor based on a Mach-Zehnder interferometer to monitor the growing concentration of bacteria in a liquid medium. The device pattern was imprinted on transparent self-patternable organic-inorganic di-ureasil hybrid films by direct UV-laser, reducing the complexity and cost production compared with lithographic techniques or three-dimensional (3D) patterning using femtosecond lasers. The sensor performance was evaluated using, as an illustrative example, E. coli cell growth in an aqueous medium. The measured sensitivity (2 × 10−4 RIU) and limit of detection (LOD = 2 × 10−4) are among the best values known for low-refractive index contrast sensors. Furthermore, the di-ureasil hybrid used to produce this biosensor has additional advantages, such as mechanical flexibility, thermal stability, and low insertion losses due to fiber-device refractive index mismatch (~1.49). Therefore, the proposed sensor constitutes a direct, compact, fast, and cost-effective solution for monitoring the concentration of lived-cells.

【 授权许可】

Unknown