Abstract

Silicon Photonics Point-of-care Biosensor Platforms

Peter Bienstman, Professor, Ghent University

Silicon photonics is an attractive platform for biosensors and lab-on-a-chip systems. First, it benefits from a high refractive index contrast permitting very compact sensors of which many can be incorporated on a single chip, enabling multiplexed sensing. Second, silicon-on-insulator photonic chips can be made with CMOS-compatible process steps, allowing for a strong reduction of the chip cost by high-volume fabrication. By using silicon nitride instead of regular silicon, the operating wavelength can be shifted to the visible, which has enormous cost benefits when it comes to the availability of sources and detectors in this wavelength range.