Response to cardiac markers in human serum analyzed by guided-mode resonance biosensor.

Cardiac markers in human serum with concentrations less than 0.1 ng/mL were analyzed by use of a guided-mode resonance (GMR) biosensor. Cardiac troponin I (cTnI), creatine kinase MB (CK-MB), and myoglobin (MYO) were monitored in the serum of both patients and healthy controls. Dose-response curves ranging from 0.05 to 10 ng/mL for cTnI, from 0.1 to 10 ng/mL for CK-MB, and from 0.03 to 1.7 µg/mL for MYO were obtained. The limits of detection (LOD) for cTnI, CK-MB, and MYO were less than 0.05, 0.1, and 35 ng/mL, respectively. Analysis time was 30 min, which is short enough to meet clinical requirements. Antibody immobilization and the hydrophilic properties of the guided-mode resonance filter (GMRF) surface were investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and by monitoring the peak wavelength shift and water contact angle (CA). Both assays used to evaluate the surface density of the immobilized antibodies, a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and a sandwich immunogold assay, showed that the antibodies were successfully immobilized and sufficiently aligned to detect the low concentration of biomarkers. Our results show that the GMR biosensor will be very useful in developing low-cost portable biosensors that can screen for cardiac diseases.

Prediction of the limit of detection of an optical resonant reflection biosensor.

A prediction of the limit of detection of an optical resonant reflection biosensor is presented. An optical resonant reflection biosensor using a guided-mode resonance filter is one of the most promising label-free optical immunosensors due to a sharp reflectance peak and a high sensitivity to the changes of optical path length. We have simulated this type of biosensor using rigorous coupled wave theory to calculate the limit of detection of the thickness of the target protein layer. Theoretically, our biosensor has an estimated ability to detect thickness change approximately the size of typical antigen proteins. We have also investigated the effects of the absorption and divergence of the incident light on the detection ability of the biosensor.

Noncollinear correlated photon pair source in the 1550 nm telecommunication band.

We present a source of noncollinear correlated photon pairs in the standard 1550 nm telecommunication band. They are generated by a spontaneous parametric down-conversion process and emitted in a cone because of type-I noncollinear phase matching. Within the band, the source gives a completely flexible choice of the frequencies of the photon pairs, and correlation properties related to spatial momentum as well as energy and time can easily be utilized.We characterize the source by measuring the spatial intensity distribution of the down-converted light and by performing coincidence counting.

Quasideterministic generation of entangled atoms in a cavity.

We present a scheme to generate a maximally entangled state of two three-level atoms in a cavity. The success or failure of the generation of the desired entangled state can be determined by detecting the polarization of the photon leaking out of the cavity. With the use of an automatic feedback, the success probability of the scheme can be made to approach unity.