LAUSR

We present a theoretical prescription for a physically realizable Lab-in-a-Photonic-Crystal optical biosensor that can instantaneously detect and discriminate multiple analytes, both quantitatively and combinatorially, in a single spectroscopic measurement. Unlike other biosensors that utilize simple resonance modes, our fundamental operating principle is the analyte-induced hybridization of waveguide modes and surface modes in a photonic bandgap, leading to a complex spectral fingerprint. Our real-world liquid-infiltrated photonic crystal sensor supplants two-dimensional conceptual paradigms proposed earlier with realistic features and a path to implementation. A square-lattice photonic crystal of nanopillars with fixed height but differentiated cross sections within a narrow flow-channel is used for cascaded transmission of light through the photonic bandgap. The nanopillar array is placed on a thin layer of high-refractive-index backing material resting on a glass substrate with fluid and biomarker flow along the waveguide direction. Using finite-difference time-domain simulations of light transmission perpendicular to the waveguide, a variety of spectral fingerprints are identified as various disease-marker combinations bind to specific lines of nanopillars. Various diseases or various stages of a given disease are detected and differentiated through the interplay of central-waveguide resonances with edge modes and three-dimensional index-guided bulk modes. This offers a distinctive mechanism for instantaneous disease diagnosis using a minimal volume of fluid sample.We present a theoretical prescription for a physically realizable Lab-in-a-Photonic-Crystal optical biosensor that can instantaneously detect and discriminate multiple analytes, both quantitatively and combinatorially, in a single spectroscopic measurement. Unlike other biosensors that utilize simple resonance modes, our fundamental operating principle is the analyte-induced hybridization of waveguide modes and surface modes in a photonic bandgap, leading to a complex spectral fingerprint. Our real-world liquid-infiltrated photonic crystal sensor supplants two-dimensional conceptual paradigms proposed earlier with realistic features and a path to implementation. A square-lattice photonic crystal of nanopillars with fixed height but differentiated cross sections within a narrow flow-channel is used for cascaded transmission of light through the photonic bandgap. The nanopillar array is placed on a ...