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Bottom-Up Assembled Photonic Crystals for Structure-Enabled Label-Free Sensing
Juan Wang1, Pepijn W H Pinkse2, Loes I Segerink1
1BIOS Lab on a Chip Group, MESA+ Institute for Nanotechnology, Technical Medical Centre & Max Planck Center for Complex Fluid Dynamics, University of Twente, 7522 NB Enschede, The Netherlands.
ACS Nano
|May 24, 2021
Summary
Bottom-up assembled photonic crystals (PhCs) offer label-free sensing for point-of-care devices. Their unique optical properties enable enhanced light-matter interactions for diverse applications.
Area of Science:
- Photonics and Nanotechnology
- Optical Sensing Technologies
- Biomedical and Environmental Monitoring
Background:
- Photonic crystals (PhCs) exhibit photonic stop bands (PSBs) that control light propagation, enabling light confinement and manipulation.
- PhCs offer large surface areas for analyte adsorption and structural tunability, enhancing light-matter interactions crucial for sensing.
- Intense research focuses on PhCs for optical sensors in bioassays, diagnostics, and environmental monitoring.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review significant advances in bottom-up assembled photonic crystals for label-free optical sensing.
- To highlight the potential of these PhC sensors for point-of-care diagnostic devices.
- To systematically categorize PhC sensors based on their working principles.
Main Methods:
- Review of literature focusing on bottom-up assembled photonic crystals.
- Analysis of structural design, constituent materials, and fabrication strategies for PhC sensors.
- Classification of sensors based on five distinct working principles.
Main Results:
- Demonstration of bottom-up assembled PhCs as effective label-free sensors.
- Identification of key parameters influencing PhC sensor performance: structural design, materials, and fabrication.
- Categorization into five sensing mechanisms: refractive index variation, lattice spacing variation, enhanced fluorescence, SERS, and configuration transitions.
Conclusions:
- Bottom-up assembled PhCs show significant promise for developing advanced label-free optical sensors.
- These PhC sensors are well-suited for point-of-care applications due to their sensitivity and versatility.
- The diverse sensing principles reviewed offer a broad platform for future sensor development.
