Label-free fiber optic biosensor based on thin-core modal interferometer

A label-free, cost-effective fiber optic biosensor (FOB) using electrostatic self-assembly (ESA) technology is presented and experimentally demonstrated. The FOB was constructed by sandwiching a thin-core single-mode fiber (TCSMF) between two single-mode fibers (SMFs). Firstly, we simulated the refractive index (RI) sensitivity of this fiber structure, and validated it using different concentrations of glycerol solutions. Then the diallyldimethyl ammonium chloride (PDDA) and styrenesulfonate sodium salt (PSS) were employed as polyelectrolyte self-assembled multilayers (PSAMs) deposition for surface functionalization of the fiber. We selected biotin–streptavidin as a bioconjugate pair for testing the effectiveness of the biosensor, and achieved a streptavidin detection limit of 0.02nM. The specificity was further verified by a comparison experiment conducted using bovine serum albumin (BSA) and gelatin. These results demonstrate the feasibility of this sensor for use in biological and chemical applications.