High yield silicon photonic crystal microcavity biosensors with 100fM detection limit

We experimentally demonstrated a silicon photonic crystal (PC) microcavity biosensor with 50 femto-molar detection limit. Our devices have demonstrated sensitivities higher than than competing optical platforms at concentration of 0.1μg/ml across a range of dissociation constants KD 1 micro-molar to 1 femto-molar. High sensitivities were achieved by slow light engineering which reduced the radiation loss and increased the stored energy in the PC microcavity resonance mode which contributed to high Q as well as enhanced optical mode overlap with the analyte. By integrating subwavelength grating coupler, we showed that not only coupling efficiency increased but also the working device yield significantly improved

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