Silicon photonics meets biology: Monolithically integrated single molecule sensors

 Holger Schmidt, Department of Electrical Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA

Abstract: Single molecule spectroscopy in solution has grown into a research field with a wide range of applications in the life sciences, in particular molecular biology and medicine. Fully integrated optofluidic analysis instruments with single molecule sensitivity could have large impact for both fundamental science and biomedical applications. In the past, such devices could not be realized, largely due to the inability to guide light through micron-scale fluidic channels.

In this talk, I will review our recent work on development of a monolithically optofluidic detection platform based on liquid-core ARROW waveguides. I will discuss the principles of planar, two-dimensional waveguide arrays that are compatible with single molecule detection. Fabrication methods and optical performance, including the first demonstration of single molecule sensitivity on a silicon chip are presented. I will also describe applications of this technology to problems in molecular biology and diagnostics.

About the speaker: Holger Schmidt received the Diploma degree in physics from the University of Stuttgart in 1994, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical and computer engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 1995 and 1999, respectively. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge. He has been Assistant Professor of Electrical Engineering at University of California, Santa Cruz since 2001, and associate professor since 2005. He has authored or coauthored over 60 publications.

Dr. Schmidt's research interests include integrated biophotonics, nano-magneto-optics and integrated quantum optics. He received an NSF CAREER Award in 2002.
 

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