Photonic resonator hybrids for ultrasensitive biosensing

该应用程序的目的是构建和测试新一代光控材料的性能，称为光子超晶体（PHC）。该项目建立在研究人员开发新一代荧光传感器的初步成功基础上，该传感器具有过去未被证明的检测极限和高动态范围。他们证明了所提出的应用的可行性，所提出的光学混合材料在检测具有非常高灵敏度的荧光信号方面的出色性能证明了这一点。这个项目将有可能导致一种新的高度新颖的传感器，可以显著提高疾病生物标志物的检测极限。这可以为生物医学和临床应用的低成本综合诊断工具提供高灵敏度、紧凑和低成本的荧光传感器。所提出的检测技术的成功开发可能对高灵敏度探测器和仪器的开发产生重大影响，这些探测器和仪器可用于开发新型生物传感器，提高性能并降低检测和量化生物分子荧光信号的现有生物成像和传感平台的成本。研究小组在工程、化学、生物光子学、生物传感器和纳米技术等领域的教学和培训学生和研究人员方面有着杰出的记录。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The aim of this application is to construct and test the performance of a new generation of light-controlling materials called photonic hypercrystals (PHC). This project builds upon the initial success of the investigators toward developing a new generation of fluorescence sensors with a detection limit and high dynamic range that have not been demonstrated in the past. They demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed application as evidenced by the outstanding performance of the proposed optical hybrid materials for the detection of a fluorescence signal with a very high degree of sensitivity. This project will potentially lead to a new class of highly novel sensors that can significantly improve the limit of detection of biomarkers of diseases. This can lead to the availability of highly sensitive, compact and low-cost fluorescence sensors for low-cost integrated diagnostic tools for biomedical and clinical applications.Successful development of the proposed detection technique could have a significant impact on the development of highly sensitive detectors and instrumentation that could be used to develop novel biosensors and improve the performance an reduce the cost of existing bio-imaging and sensing platforms that detect and quantify fluorescence signals from biomolecules. The investigating team has outstanding records for teaching and training of students and research fellows in the fields of engineering, chemistry, biophotonics, biosensors, and nanotechnology.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.