Silicon-on-insulator integrated optical biosensors for environmental monitoring

It is shown that the fabrication of a family of silicon based evanescent optical field sensors can be produced using well established silicon microelectronics processes. Such devices offer advantages of low cost and high sensitivity compared with conventional technologies. A further cost advantage arises from the generic nature of the technology. This is largely due to the active features of silicon circuits. New sensors will only require the development of appropriate receptor layers. Ink-jet printing provides the means to produce highly controlled droplets of very low volume. These can be printed at high speed and are controlled by a microprocessor. It is therefore possible to produce small receptor film regions