Porous Optical Waveguide Mode Sensor for High-Sensitivity Detection
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional surface plasmon resonance sensors lack sufficient sensitivity to detect small specimens, and existing optical waveguide mode sensors face challenges with stability and ease of surface modification.
Innovation Solution
An optical waveguide mode sensor with a substrate and reflector film, featuring a porous optical waveguide layer made from stable materials like silicon oxide or titanium oxide, which increases surface area and allows for high-sensitivity detection without labeling, using ion implantation for machining and chemical modification of the surface for molecular recognition.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If surface plasmon resonance is used for detection, then the sensor can detect DNA, proteins, and chemical substances, but the sensitivity is not enough to detect small specimens
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies porous materials by forming a porous optical waveguide layer on the reflector film surface. The porous structure increases the surface area available for specimen adsorption, thereby enhancing detection sensitivity for small specimens while maintaining the stability of the optical waveguide system.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a two-dimensional planar surface to a three-dimensional porous structure by forming pores throughout the optical waveguide layer. This dimensional change significantly increases the effective surface area for molecular interaction, improving detection sensitivity without compromising system stability.
2Measurement precision
If an optical waveguide is formed on the SPR sensor surface to improve sensitivity, then molecules can be measured with high sensitivity, but the stability and ease of surface modification are compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent forms a porous optical waveguide layer that provides both high surface area for molecule measurement and structural stability. The porous silicon oxide or titanium oxide material maintains sensor stability while enabling high-sensitivity detection through increased surface area for molecular adsorption.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses composite materials by combining the reflector film (metal layer) with a porous optical waveguide layer made of silicon oxide or titanium oxide. This composite structure integrates the optical properties of the metal reflector with the stability and surface area benefits of the porous dielectric material, achieving both high sensitivity and stability.
3Adaptability or versatility
If the optical waveguide layer surface is modified for molecular recognition, then specimen detection is enabled, but the manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The porous structure of the optical waveguide layer provides abundant surface area for molecular recognition group attachment. The high surface area to volume ratio of the porous material allows effective functionalization with recognition molecules while maintaining a relatively simple manufacturing process compared to creating complex three-dimensional structures.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The sensor achieves high sensitivity and stability, enabling quick detection of smaller specimens with improved sensitivity compared to prior art, by utilizing the optical waveguide mode and porous structure for enhanced surface area and chemical stability.
Implementation Method 1
The optical waveguide mode is caused by multiple reflections within a dielectric material
Implementation Method 2
Light incident on a glass at an angle passes through the glass and illuminates a reflector layer so as to generate an evanescent wave on the side of a dielectric optical waveguide. When the evanescent wave couples with the optical waveguide mode in the dielectric optical waveguide, a part or all of the incident light propagates in the dielectric optical waveguide and is therefore not reflected.
Implementation Method 3
A plurality of pores is formed in the optical waveguide layer so as to penetrate therethrough, wherein the pores have a total inner wall surface area, or an increase in surface area by formation of the pores, of not less than 0.1 cm2 and not more than 280 cm2 per 1 cm2 of a surface area of the optical waveguide
Implementation Method 4
a reflector film formed on the substrate, and an optical waveguide layer formed on the reflector film
Data Source
AI summary
A chip is constituted from a transparent substrate, a reflector film formed on the transparent substrate and an optical waveguide layer formed on the reflector film, and a plurality of pores is formed in the optical waveguide layer. A light-introducing mechanism that introduces light from the transparent substrate of the chip onto the reflector film, and a light-detecting mechanism that detects the light reflected on the reflector film are provided. A specimen under investigation is detected by sensing a change in the incidence angle or in the intensity of reflected light that occurs when the specimen is adsorbed or deposits on the surface of the optical waveguide layer, by using a range of incidence angles of the light in which the intensity of reflected light changes when a part or all of the incident light couples with the optical waveguide mode that propagates in the optical waveguide layer.