All-nanophotonic NEMS biosensor on a chip

Abstract: Integrated chemical and biological sensors give advantages in cost, size and weight reduction and open new prospects for parallel monitoring and analysis. Biosensors based on nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) are the most attractive candidates for the integrated platform. However, actuation and transduction techniques (e.g. electrostatic, magnetomotive, thermal or piezoelectric) limit their operation to laboratory conditions. All-optical approach gives the possibility to overcome this problem, nevertheless, the existing schemes are either fundamentally macroscopic or excessively complicated and expensive in mass production. Here we propose a novel scheme of extremely compact NEMS biosensor monolithically integrated on a chip with all-nanophotonic transduction and actuation. It consists of the photonic waveguide and the nanobeam cantilever placed above the waveguide, both fabricated in the same CMOS-compatible process. Being in the near field of the strongly confined photonic mode, cantilever is efficiently actuated and its response is directly read out using the same optical waveguide, which results in a very high sensitivity and capability of single-molecule detection even in atmosphere.