Two dimensional photonic crystal slab biosensors using label free refractometric sensing schemes: A review

Abstract

Biosensor technology is a quite attractive and rapidly developing research field in recent years, and the sub field of optical photonic crystal (PC) biosensor based on label free sensing technology has also made great progress in this period. This review mainly concentrates on advances in the label free refractometric sensing based two dimensional (2D) PC slab biosensors particularly in the last decade, emphasizing the development and evolution of structural design. It begins with a brief discussion on the basic principles and design methods of label free 2D PC biosensors. Then, the sensors are classified according to the designed geometric structure and research progress of various sensors is reviewed, highlighting efforts dedicated to improving the transducer configuration and integration. Additionally, surface functionalization methods for different materials to produce reproducible surface properties and different detection methods for biological targets are introduced for evaluation. 2D PC refractometric biosensors have been applied to a great many applications varying from biotechnology, food safety, water quality monitoring to clinical diagnosis. Finally, the authors’ views on current limitations of the slab for biosensing as well as the optimizable aspects are presented.