Abstract

The emergence of personalized and stratified medicine requires label-free, low-cost diagnostic technology capable of monitoring multiple disease biomarkers in parallel. Silicon photonic biosensors combine high-sensitivity analysis with scalable, low-cost manufacturing, but they tend to measure only a single biomarker and provide no information about their (bio)chemical activity. Here we introduce an electrochemical silicon photonic sensor capable of highly sensitive and multiparameter profiling of biomarkers. Our electrophotonic technology consists of microring resonators optimally n-doped to support high Q resonances alongside electrochemical processes in situ. The inclusion of electrochemical control enables site-selective immobilization of different biomolecules on individual microrings within a sensor array. The combination of photonic and electrochemical characterization also provides additional quantitative information and unique insight into chemical reactivity that is unavailable with photonic detection alone. By exploiting both the photonic and the electrical properties of silicon, the sensor opens new modalities for sensing on the microscale.

Highlights

  • The emergence of personalized and stratified medicine requires label-free, low-cost diagnostic technology capable of monitoring multiple disease biomarkers in parallel

  • We present a solution to this incompatibility by controlling the doping density profile of a silicon photonic microring resonator such that the dopants are located in a thin layer at the silicon surface

  • The electrografting reaction is spatially localized, enabling site-selective control over the surface chemistry. We validate this site selectivity by demonstrating a multiplexed electrophotonic sensor array in which each microring within the array is selectively functionalized with a different probe molecule, and which is capable of monitoring multiple biomarkers in parallel

Read more

Summary

Introduction

The emergence of personalized and stratified medicine requires label-free, low-cost diagnostic technology capable of monitoring multiple disease biomarkers in parallel. The inclusion of electrochemical characterization alongside photonic sensing allows us to combine the complementary information contained within the two measurement domains, and to exploit electrochemical processes to selectively modify the silicon surface We use this capability to electrochemically graft specific molecular probes on the sensor surface, focusing here on single-stranded DNA probes. The electrografting reaction is spatially localized, enabling site-selective control over the surface chemistry We validate this site selectivity by demonstrating a multiplexed electrophotonic sensor array in which each microring within the array is selectively functionalized with a different probe molecule, and which is capable of monitoring multiple biomarkers in parallel

Methods
Results
Conclusion

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call

Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.