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Graduate Exam Abstract


Tim Erickson

Ph.D. Final
June 18, 2014, 11:00 am
Mechanical Engineering Conference Room
DESIGN, OPTIMZIATION AND FABRICATION OF AN INTEGRATED OPTOELECTRONIC SENSING CHIP WITH APPLICATIONS IN GROUNDWATER CONTAMINANT DETECTION AND BIOSENSING

Abstract: The LEAC (Local Evanescent Array Coupled) chip is
a CMOS-compatible, waveguide-based, label-free,
optoelectronic sensor, which can function as a
biosensor or environmental sensor. Unique among
optoelectronic sensors, the ~1 cm2 LEAC chip
features an integrated photodetector array, which
increases device portability, enables multi-
analyte detection on a single waveguide and
simplifies system instrumentation. At its core,
the LEAC chip is simply a precision refractometer,
which can sense very small changes in refractive
index (~5x10-6) in its multiple upper cladding
sensing regions. The chip can be functionalized
for detection of biomarkers or groundwater
contaminants, which bind or diffuse into the
waveguide’s upper cladding sensing region, thereby
producing a measurable change in refractive index.
By incorporating multiple design improvements, the
sensing performance of the LEAC chip has been
improved to the point where it is now competitive
with low-end surface plasmon resonance (SPR)
systems for bulk refractive index sensing. The
LEAC chip has been demonstrated for rapid
detection of aromatic hydrocarbons, such as
benzene, in groundwater at sub-ppm concentrations
and for sensing relevant cardiac biomarkers,
including TroponinI. Chip design, optimization,
fabrication and experimental results will be
presented.


Adviser: Kevin Lear
Co-Adviser: N/A
Non-ECE Member: Jacob Roberts, Physics
Member 3: Branislav Notaros, George Collins, Kevin Lear
Addional Members: N/A

Publications:
Tim Erickson, Rajvir Nijjar, Matt Kipper and Kevin Lear, "Characterization of plasma-enhanced teflon AF for sensing benzene, toluene, and xylenes in water with near-IR surface plasmon resonance," Talanta 119 (2014): 151-155.

Tim Erickson and Kevin Lear, "Optimization of the Local Evanescent Array-Coupled Optoelectronic Sensing Chip for Enhanced, Portable, Real-Time Sensing," Sensors Journal, IEEE , vol.13, no.5, pp.1905,1913, May 2013.

Erickson, T., and K. Lear. "An Integrated Optoelectronic Chip for Sensing Aromatic Hydrocarbon Contaminants in Groundwater," Sensors and Actuators B, accepted with minor revisions May 2014.

Yan, Rongjin, N. Scott Lynn, Luke C. Kingry, Zhangjing Yi, Tim Erickson, Richard A. Slayden, David S. Dandy, and Kevin L. Lear. "Detection of virus-like nanoparticles via scattering using a chip-scale optical biosensor." Applied Physics Letters 101, no. 16 (2012): 161111.


Program of Study:
ECE 504
ECE 512
ECE 642
PH 521
ECE 695
EE 385V
ECE 799
GSTR 600