Design and Performance Investigation of Silicon-on- Insulator Based Optical Waveguide Biosensor

Abstract

Optical biosensors using silicon on insulator (SOI) prove itself a reliable option to get a real-time and cost-effective breast cancer detection technique. In this article, we discuss the need for and importance of a cancer detection technique that leads to accurate results without posing any harm to patients’ lives. We present a design of an optical biosensor using R-Soft CAD software simulated in the finite difference time domain (FDTD). Applications for the design and performance analysis of silicon-on-insulator-based optical waveguide biosensors are numerous and include environmental monitoring, industry, research, and healthcare and diagnostics. These applications are crucial for raising the various bioanalytical techniques' sensitivity, accuracy, and speed. The refractive index for normal cells is 1 and the refractive index for a cancerous cell is 1.34. The SOI wafer also has a buried oxide layer with a thickness of 1000 nanometers (1000 nm). The buried oxide layer serves to isolate the silicon layer from the silicon substrate and can influence the optical and electrical properties of the waveguide and ring resonator. The silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer has a silicon layer with a thickness of 340 nanometers (340 nm). This silicon layer serves as the core material for the waveguide and ring resonator.