Simply Modified Biosensor for the Detection of Human IgG Based on Protein AModified Porous Silicon Interferometer

A biosensor has been developed based on induced wavelength shifts in the Fabry-Perot fringes in the visible reflection spectrum of appropriately derivatized thin films of porous silicon semiconductors. Porous silicon (PSi) was generated by an electrochemical etching of silicon wafer using two electrode configurations in aqueous ethanolic HF solution. Porous silicon displayed Fabry-Perot fringe patterns whose reflection maxima varied spatially across the porous silicon. The sensor system studied consisted of a mono layer of porous silicon modified with Protein A. The system was probed with various fragments of an aqueous Human Immunoglobin G (Ig G) analyte. The sensor operated by measurement of the Fabry-Perot fringes in the white light reflection spectrum from the porous silicon layer. Molecular binding was detected as a shift in wavelength of these fringes.