Silicon-on-insulator photonic crystal slabs for biosensing

In this work we present preliminary results on the optical response and sensitivity tests of waveguide-based photonic crystal structures acting as biosensors for proteins and oligonucleotides. Several one-and two-dimensional Silicon-on-insulator (SOI) PhCs with lattice constants in the submicron range have been realized by means of electron-beam lithography and reactive ion etching techniques.