Theoretical simulation of DNA hybridization based on cascaded plasmonic V-shaped channel biosensor

Abstract

A compact biosensor based on specially designed Cascaded V-shaped Channels (CVSChs) for the analysis and detection of Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) hybridization is presented in this paper. The proposed biosensor employs a Gold (Au) nanowire in then CVSChs sensing region and provides more flexibility as far as tailoring the detection range and sensitivity as compared to the single V-shaped channel (VSC). It has been numerically demonstrated that the detection sensitivity of DNA hybridization is significantly dependent on the number of the V shaped channels. A two – dimensional Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) analysis with Perfectly Matched Layers (PMLs) is employed to evaluate the sensor performance with different structural parameters. Simulation results indicate that the proposed biosensor can achieve a high sensitivity of 2541 nm / RIU by optimizing the structural parameters. We demonstrate a proof-of-concept hybrid biosensor by monitoring the resonance shift due to the hybridization event. The proposed biosensor will have great impact on early stage detection of infected cells.