Design and characterization of an ultra-low-cost 3D-printed optical sensor based on Bloch surface wave resonance

Abstract

This paper demonstrates the design, construction, and testing of an optical sensor based on Bloch surface wave resonance. The single target, flow-cell sensor makes use of simple, inexpensive optical components and mechanical parts largely created using 3D printing. We demonstrate that this simple instrument is capable of high resolution refractive index measurements and affinity binding experiments of the type used to probe reaction kinetics.

Keywords

• Bloch surface wave
• Refractive index sensing
• Affinity binding reaction sensing