All-Silicon Spectrally Resolved Interferometric Circuit for Multiplexed Diagnostics: A Monolithic Lab-on-a-Chip Integrating All Active and Passive Components

Abstract

Despite the tremendous advances in micro- and nanoelectronics and the fast-pacing advances in photonic circuit designs, seamless monolithic integration of electronic and photonic components on single chips still remains elusive. In this work, a radically designed silicon-based chip that monolithically integrates in a 37 mm2 footprint 10 interferometric optical sensors along with their respective optical sources, spectral analyzers, and photodetector arrays is presented. The chip is fabricated with mainstream CMOS-compatible fabrication techniques and employs optical devices operating in the visible/infrared spectrum and waveguides with a critical dimension of 1.0 μm. In addition, it exploits the newly introduced detection principle of broad-band Mach–Zehnder interferometry that surpasses the stringent requirement for external monochromatic sources and inherent limitations of traditional interferometry and introduces alternative designs of on-chip spectral analyzers and mode-filtering components, aspiring thus to become a novel lab-on-a-chip that can address the needs of next-generation analytical systems. Apart from the conceptual design, novel photonic features, fabrication steps, and out-of-the-box system development that circumvents the need for fluidic interfacing and employs only electrical interconnects, the present work tests the potential of the fully spectroscopic chip for analytical applications through real-time monitoring of immunochemical reactions and demonstrates limits of detection for antimouse IgG antibody and CRP of 60 and 8 pM, respectively.

Cultivating Multidisciplinarity: Manufacturing and Sensing Challenges in Cultured Meat Production

“…The first truly portable PS-based biosensor was recently demonstrated by Misiakos and co-workers who integrated on the single chip the sensing element, spectrometers, lights sources and detectors [ 299 ]— Figure 4 . The real-time detection of specific antibiotics in biological liquids was demonstrated.…”

“…The light sources (LED) and photodiodes (PDs) (green rectangles) are connected to the electrodes. Adapted with permission from [ 299 ]. Copyright (2020) American Chemical Society.…”

Silicon‐Based Integrated Label‐Free Optofluidic Biosensors: Latest Advances and Roadmap

“…Notably, in 2019, the same group further developed a “fully spectroscopic” chip‐scale label‐free biosensor with monolithically integrated light sources and PDs. [ 194 ] As shown in Figure 11e,f, ten multiplexed BB‐MZI transducers are coupled with their own on‐chip broadband light sources. After filtering with AWGs, the light beams are out‐coupled to on‐chip integrated PD arrays for analyzing the output spectra.…”

Critical assessment of relevant methods in the field of biosensors with direct optical detection based on fibers and waveguides using plasmonic, resonance, and interference effects

“…A latest application of a broadband Mach-Zehnder interferometer with onchip spectrum analyzers and mode-filtering components has been published for multiplex diagnostics. A photograph of the reader, a diagram of on-chip components, and the results of the biomolecular interaction in case of C-reactive protein is given [319]. An interesting idea is the migration of the Mach-Zehnder chemical sensor and biosensor to the mid-infrared region (MIR) as has been done in the application of the new device for the detection of the herbicide simazine [320,321].…”