Low-Cost Label-Free Bio-Detection System Using Double-Sided Grating Waveguide Couplers

Low-cost label-free bio-sensing systems have long been desired to enable rapid, sensitive, quantitative, and high-throughput biosensing for bio-medical and chemical applications. Here we present an optical bio-detection system consists of injection-molded biosensors based on double-sided grating waveguide couplers and an optical intensity-based detection platform for low-cost, real-time, and label-free biosensing. The biosensors were fabricated combining injection-molding and sputtering techniques, providing unique advantages of low-cost and reduced production time. A simple and cost-effective optical intensity-based detection system employing a low-cost light emitting diode and a simple photodetector is also developed to perform label-free biosensing. We demonstrate that a high refractive index resolution of 6.43 × 10⁻⁵ RIU is achieved with this compact bio-sensing system, showing great promises for low-cost, real-time, label-free detection in bio-medical and chemical applications.