A robust silicon photonic platform for multiparameter biological analysis

Silicon photonic technology has incredible potential to transform multiplexed bioanalysis on account of the scalability of device fabrication, which maps favorably to a myriad of medical diagnostic applications. The optical properties of CMOS-fabricated microring resonators are incredibly responsive to changes in the local dielectric environment accompanying a biological binding event near the ring surface. Arrays of high-Q microrings were designed to be individually addressable both in surface derivitization, using well-established microarraying technologies, and in optical evaluation. The optical response of each ring can be determined in near real time allowing multiple biomolecular interactions to be simultaneously monitored. We describe a stable and robust measurement platform that allows sensitive visualization of small molecule surface chemical derivitization as well as monitoring of biological interactions, including the detection of proteins and nucleic acids. We also present recent results demonstrating multiplexed measurement of cancer markers. These demonstrations establish a pathway to higher level multiparameter analysis from real-world patient samples; a development that will enable individualized disease diagnostics and personalized medicine.