Refractometric Sensors for Lab-on-a-Chip Based on Optical Ring Resonators

• Published in: IEEE sensors journal Vol. 7; no. 1; pp. 28 - 35
• Main Authors: White, I.M., Hongying Zhu, Suter, J.D., Hanumegowda, N.M., Oveys, H., Zourob, M., Xudong Fan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01-01-2007; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Design engineering; Fluidics; Lab-on-a-chip; Label-free sensing; Liquids; Microfluidics; Optical design; Optical refraction; Optical resonators; optical ring resonator; Optical ring resonators; Optical sensors; Quartz; Refractive index; Resonators; Sensor systems; Sensors; Systems design; whispering gallery modes
• ISSN: 1530-437X; 1558-1748
• DOI: 10.1109/JSEN.2006.887927

We demonstrate refractive index measurement of liquids using two sensor system designs, both based on microring resonators. Evanescent sensors based on microrings utilize the resonating nature of the light to dramatically decrease the required size and sample consumption volume, which are requirements of lab-on-a-chip sensor systems. The first design, which utilizes an optical microsphere, exhibits a sensitivity of 30 nm/RIU and a resulting detection limit on the order of 10 -7 RIU. The second approach is a novel design called a liquid core optical ring resonator (LCORR). This concept uses a quartz capillary as the fluidics and as the ring resonator and achieves a sensitivity of 16.1 nm/RIU. The detection limit of this system is around 5times10 -6 RIU. Both of these systems have the potential to be incorporated with advanced microfluidic systems for lab-on-a-chip applications. In particular, the LCORR combines high sensitivity, performance stability, and microfluidic compatibility, making it an excellent choice for lab-on-a-chip development