High throughput interrogation platform for real time and highly multiplexed photonic detection using photonic bandgap structures

In this work we present our work towards the development of an ultra-fast power-based interrogation platform for its use with photonic bandgap (PBG) sensing structures. These structures are designed to have a characteristic spectral feature (a PBG edge), which will be shifted when a change of the refractive index is produced on their upper cladding. The interrogation is simply made using a filtered broadband source and an infrared camera for the simultaneous readout of all the optical outputs within the chip with an extremely high throughput. Frame rates of up to 5.000 fps have been achieved, being all that information effective sensing data points and thus allowing an ultrahigh temporal resolution for a better observation of the binding kinetics. Parameters as the integration time, acquisition frame rate and signal post-processing have been studied in order to optimize the sensitivity of the platform and to reduce its noise, reaching detection limit values in the range of 10
^-7
RIU for highly multiplexed detection. A LabVIEW based Graphical User Interface has been programmed in order to allow the user to control the different aspects related with the experiments and to monitor the results.