Title :
Surface Plasmon Interferometer in Silicon-on-Insulator: Novel Concept for an Integrated Biosensor
Author :
Debackere, P. ; Scheerlinck, S. ; Bienstman, P. ; Baets, R.
Author_Institution :
Dept. of Inf. Technol., Ghent Univ.
Abstract :
We propose a novel configuration for a highly integrated and highly sensitive optical biosensor. The basic element of our sensor is a surface plasmon interferometer consisting of a thin layer of gold embedded in a silicon membrane. We investigate the performance of our sensor by simulation using eigenmode expansion. We calculate that refractive index changes in the order of 10-6 RIU (refractive index unit) are detectable for a component of length 10 mum. Moreover, we illustrate that the operation wavelength of our sensor can be tuned to a desired wavelength for a wide range of environmental refractive indices, making our device suitable for chemo- and biosensing
Keywords :
biosensors; elemental semiconductors; gold; integrated optics; light interferometers; metallic thin films; optical films; optical sensors; optical tuning; refractive index; silicon; silicon-on-insulator; surface plasmons; 10 micron; Au; Si; Si-SiO2; eigenmode expansion; environmental refractive indices; integrated optical biosensor; optical tuning; silicon membrane; silicon-on-insulator; surface plasmon interferometer; thin gold layer; Biomedical optical imaging; Biosensors; Integrated optics; Optical interferometry; Optical refraction; Optical sensors; Optical surface waves; Plasmons; Refractive index; Silicon on insulator technology;
Conference_Titel :
Group IV Photonics, 2006. 3rd IEEE International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Ottawa, Ont.
Print_ISBN :
1-4244-0096-1
DOI :
10.1109/GROUP4.2006.1708147
