Abstract

Exploiting Evanescent Waves for Developing Simple Optical Bio(Chemical) Sensors

Soumyo Mukherji, Professor, IIT Bombay

Optical sensors is probably the most engaging areas of research at present, given the number of publications that come out in this area. Starting with simple optical fiber sensors for physical parameters such as temperature, strain, etc. to the more complex biosensing strategies, optical sensors promise immunity to electrical interferences, ease of manufacturing and easy acceptance from the user community. Although various complex bio/chemical sensors have been developed riding on the wave of nanotechnology, there are simple strategies to exploit nanoscale phenomena to develop powerful bio/chemical sensors. This talk will concentrate on sensors developed using multimode optical fibers for detection of pathogens in water, proteins in serum and even trace explosive vapors in air, finally moving towards the development of low cost polymer waveguide sensors. The sensitivity of these have been improved by incorporating nanostructures (e.g. gold nanospheres, dendrimers, etc.) and polymers on the surface of the fibers/waveguides.