Novel nano-scale silicon-based athermal optical sensing technologies

基于纳米光波导的光传感是生物传感领域的一个新兴领域，是一种非常有前途的高灵敏度技术，能够以非常低的成本实现对目标生物分子的瞬时检测。在样品有限的应用中，纳米尺寸是一个关键的优势，在这种应用中，可以用非常少量的分析物有效地检测分子相互作用；然而，电流传感器的性能受到温度效应的限制，这会影响检测器的精度。在这项研究中，学生团队将为三种新颖的、非热(即与温度无关)的纳米级硅基波导传感技术建模、设计和制造元件：基于谐振器的逝去场传感器、等离子体传感器和亚波长光栅波导传感器。这些芯片使用独特的新芯片设计(在卡尔顿大学内部制造)，包括堆叠的环形谐振器、倾斜的布拉格光栅和亚波长光栅配置。非热解决方案将是传感技术的一项技术创新，它消除了对芯片加热器和反馈系统的需求，降低了功耗，并减少了传感器的占地面积。与麻省理工学院和国家研究委员会(NRC)的顶级硅光子学研究小组的积极合作，以及包括化学家和医学临床医生在内的跨学科研究环境，将指导研究朝着成功的方向发展。这三个新设计涉及医学研究和诊断中的广泛传感应用，包括检测和治疗传染病。该研究计划将对加拿大的社会、健康和生活质量做出重大贡献，并对加拿大的健康和医疗系统产生长期影响。此外，这项研究的结果可以创造新的经济企业，并增加加拿大工业在新技术方面的全球竞争力。该计划还将为培训纳米级光学生物传感领域的高素质人员创造宝贵的机会，为加拿大的知识经济做出潜在的增长贡献。

Nano-scale waveguide based optical sensing is an emerging field for biosensing, and is a very promising and highly sensitive technology offering instantaneous detection of target bio-molecules at a very low cost. The nano-scale size is a crucial advantage in sample-limited applications where molecular interactions can be detected effectively with a very small quantity of analytes; however current sensor performance is limited by temperature effects, which compromise detector accuracy. In this research, student teams will model, design and fabricate components for three novel, athermal (i.e. temperature-independent), nano-scale silicon-based waveguide sensing technologies: resonator based evanescent field sensor, plasmonic sensor, and subwavelength grating waveguide sensor. These use unique new chip designs (fabricated in-house at Carleton University) including stacked ring resonators, a tilted Bragg grating, and a subwavelength grating configuration. Athermal solutions will be a technological innovation for sensing technology by eliminating the need for on-chip heaters and feedback systems, reducing power consumption and decreasing the sensor's footprint. Active collaboration with top silicon photonics research groups at MIT and the National Research Council (NRC), as well as an interdisciplinary research environment including chemists and medical clinicians, will guide the research in a successful direction. The three new designs address a broad spectrum of sensing applications in medical research and diagnosis, including detection and treatment of infectious diseases. The research program will contribute significantly to society, health, and quality of life in Canada and offers a long-term impact on the Canadian health and medical systems. In addition, results from this research can create new economic ventures and increase the global competitiveness of Canadian industry in new technologies. The program will also create valuable opportunities for the training of highly qualified personnel in the field of nano-scale optical biosensing, for potential growth contributions to Canada's knowledge-based economy.