Ring resonator for biosensing via flow-through approach

The realization of a simple real time biosensor, in which antibodies are immobilized onto surfaces, represents a promising application in the immunoassay development. Among the various sensing approaches, one of the most promising is based on microring resonators, offering a lot of advantages such as mass production, reduced dimensions, label-free and real time detection. The use of the evanescent field as optical transduction principle allows the development of label-free biosensors, in which the antibody is usually immobilized on the sensor surface and the binding of the antigen can be controlled and followed in real-time. The overall performances of immunosensors are strongly related to the optimization of the immobilization process and the integration between the microfluidic parts and the optical detection system. The combination of these two aspects makes the biosensing process very efficient, with a consequent reduction of the response time and improvement of the immobilization process efficiency. In this work we explore the working mechanism of a flow-through microresonator platform. A drilled hole, in the center of the ring, allows the active transport mechanism of the analyte toward the sensing surface with a consequent reduction of the response time. Moreover, we study the effects of oxygen plasma, in terms of duration times and plasma power, on immobilization efficiency of immunoglobulin G (IgG). An improvement of about 20% of the protein adsorption is ascribed to chemico-physical modification of SU-8. The measured sensor response time in flow-through configuration is about five times shorter respect to standard flow-over configuration.