A simple and direct biomolecule detection scheme based on a microwave resonator

Although several successful biosensors exist, they often require complex fabrication sequence or time-consuming sensing processes such as an off-site verification of a sensing result. At the same time, the biosensors generally focus on high sensitivity. This paper reports a cost-competitive biosensor that is capable of simple and direct detection of biomolecules without any off-site verification. The biosensor is realized with a microwave passive with a simple structure, a coplanar waveguide (CPW)-to-slotline ring resonator (CSRR) that resonant frequency is 3.375 GHz. The CSRR biosensor was then modified for higher sensitivity by increasing the effective sensing area. Two kinds of the CSRR biosensor were realized using micromachining technology. After simple fabrication, the biosensors were electrically characterized by measuring the resonant frequency shift as the biotin and streptavidin attached on the CSRR biosensor. The biotin and streptavidin induce a resonant frequency decrease of 65 and 10 MHz for the original CSRR biosensor, and 79 and 18 MHz for the modified CSRR biosensor, respectively. Based on the measurement of the resonant frequency shift, the relative permittivity of the biomolecules was calculated by numerical simulation, and was found to be 9800 for biotin and 500 for streptavidin.