Passive trapping of biomolecules in hotspots with all-dielectric terahertz metamaterials

Biosens Bioelectron. 2024 Feb 12;251:116126. doi: 10.1016/j.bios.2024.116126. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTElectromagnetic metamaterials feature the capability of squeezing photons into hotspot regions of high intensity near-field enhancement for strong light-matter interaction, underpinning the next generation of emerging biosensors. However, randomly dispersed biomolecules around the hotspots lead to weak interactions. Here, we demonstrate an all-silicon dielectric terahertz metamaterial sensor design capable of passively trapping biomoleculars into the resonant cavities confined with powerful electric field. Specifically, multiple controllable high-quality factor resonances driven by bound states in the continuum (BIC) are realized by employing longitudinal symmetry breaking. The dielectric metamaterial sensor with nearly 15.2 experimental figure-of-merit enabling qualitative and quantitative identification of different amino acids by delivering biomolecules to the hotspots for strong light-matter interactions. It is envisioned that the presented strategy will enlighten high-performance meta-sensors design from microwaves to visible frequencies, and serve as a potential platform for microfluidic sensing, biomolecular capture, and sorting devices.PMID:38367565 | DOI:10.1016/j.bios.2024.116126

Source: Biosensors and Bioelectronics - February 17, 2024 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Tingling Lin Yi Huang Shuncong Zhong Tingting Shi Fuwei Sun Yujie Zhong Qiuming Zeng Qiukun Zhang Daxiang Cui Source Type: research