Parallel and high sensitive photonic crystal cavity assisted read-out for DNA-chips

In this work we propose a new technological approach aimed at improving the performances of DNA-chips in terms of detection sensitivity, signal-to-noise ratio and parallel analyses (spatial and spectral). It is based on the efficient enhancement of markers fluorescence through the insertion of photonic crystal nanocavities (PhC) in DNA-chips, thus giving higher sensitivity and allowing detection of small amounts of target biomolecules in the investigated solution. Moreover, this strategy univocally associates a specific emission wavelength to a specific nanocavity (and to the bio-probe immobilized on it), therefore allowing to infer the presence of a determined element in the solution by a simple spectral analysis of the optical response of the read-out region. This guarantees parallel detection of multiple elements and faster analysis time. The proposed 2D-PhC cavity assisted bio-chip read-out can be easily extended from DNA to a wide range of biomolecules, such as proteins, antibodies, aptamers, receptors.