O P T S Porous Polymer Waveguides and Ring Resonators CNF Project Number : 1472 - 06 Principal Investigator :

Figure 1: (A) A standard waveguide ring resonator contains its electromagnetic energy in the waveguides core. Depending on the characteristics of the resonator, specific wavelengths are stored in the ring and not transmitted. (B) When biomolecules are present in the surrounding solution, the evanescent field of the waveguide interacts and the effective refractive index of the resonator changes, affecting its resonant condition. (C) By creating a porous resonator, biomolecules can enter the waveguide and directly interact with the core energy, causing a larger change in the ring’s resonant condition. Abstract: Optofluidic biosensors are promising for future label free diagnostics because of their ability to localize electromagnetic energy in optically resonant structures and concentrate bioanalytes in microfluidic channels. However, many traditional optical biosensors often store the majority of their optical energy away from the bioanalyte solution, leaving only the evanescent field to interact with biomolecules. Nanoporous polymer waveguides and ring resonators were developed that allowed increased interactions between core energy and biomolecules. Our results show a 40% increase in biosensor sensitivity due to these increased interactions. Summary of Research: