title: Optical Gratings Coated with Thin Si3N4 Layer for Efficient Immunosensing by Optical Waveguide Lightmode Spectroscopy.
abstract: New silicon nitride coated optical gratings were tested by means of Optical Waveguide Lightmode Spectroscopy (OWLS). A thin layer of 10 nm of transparent silicon nitride was deposited on commercial optical gratings by means of sputtering. The quality of the layer was tested by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy. As a proof of concept, the sensors were successfully tested with OWLS by monitoring the concentration dependence on the detection of an antibody-protein pair. The potential of the Si3N4 as functional layer in a real-time biosensor opens new ways for the integration of optical waveguides with microelectronics.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronics, University of Barcelona, C/Martí i Franquès 1, Barcelona, ES 08028, Spain. lorena.dieguez@unisa.edu.au.
authors.forename: Lorena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Diéguez
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronics, University of Barcelona, C/Martí i Franquès 1, Barcelona, ES 08028, Spain. caballero@unistra.fr.
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Caballero
authors.affiliation: Electronic Engineering Department, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Campus Nord, Barcelona, ES 08034, Spain. calderer@eel.upc.edu.
authors.forename: Josep
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Calderer
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronics, University of Barcelona, C/Martí i Franquès 1, Barcelona, ES 08028, Spain. mmoreno@el.ub.es.
authors.forename: Mauricio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moreno
authors.affiliation: Nanobioengineering Group, Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC), C/Baldiri Reixac 10-12, Barcelona, ES 08028, Spain. emartinez@ibecbarcelona.eu.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.affiliation: Department of Electronics, University of Barcelona, C/Martí i Franquès 1, Barcelona, ES 08028, Spain. jsamitier@ibecbarcelona.eu.
authors.forename: Josep
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Samitier