Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is considered a highly promising technology for different analytical purposes. The applications of SERS are still quite limited due its relatively poor quantitative repeatability and the fact that SERS is very sensitive to oxidation, which is a challenge especially with silver based SERS substrates. Here, the link between these phenomena is investigated by exposing silver SERS substrates to ambient laboratory air. We show that SERS intensity decreases exponentially after the exposure, which consequently leads to an increasing standard deviation (σ) in intensity. Within a five-hour measurement window, the SERS intensity already drops by 60%, while σ triples from 7% to 21%. The SERS results are supplemented by elemental analysis, which shows that oxidation and atmospheric carbon contamination coincide with the rapid SERS intensity decrease. The results emphasize how sensitive SERS is towards atmospheric contamination and how it can also reduce the measurement repeatability – even if the substrates are exposed to air just for a very short period of time.

A refractive index sensor based on slot waveguide Young interferometer was developed in this work. The interferometer was fabricated on a polymer platform and operates at a visible wavelength of 633 nm. The phase shift of the interference pattern was measured with various concentrations of glucose-water solutions, utilizing both TE and TM polarization states. The sensor was experimentally observed to detect a refractive index difference of 6.4 × 10(-6) RIU. Furthermore, the slot Young interferometer was found to compensate for temperature variations. The results of this work demonstrate that high performance sensing capability can be obtained with a polymeric slot Young interferometer, which can be fabricated by a simple molding process.

Flexible photonic integrated circuit technology is an emerging field expanding the usage possibilities of photonics, particularly in sensor applications, by enabling the realization of conformable devices and introduction of new alternative production methods. Here, we demonstrate that disposable polymeric photonic integrated circuit devices can be produced in lengths of hundreds of meters by ultra-high volume roll-to-roll methods on a flexible carrier. Attenuation properties of hundreds of individual devices were measured confirming that waveguides with good and repeatable performance were fabricated. We also demonstrate the applicability of the devices for the evanescent wave sensing of ambient refractive index. The production of integrated photonic devices using ultra-high volume fabrication, in a similar manner as paper is produced, may inherently expand methods of manufacturing low-cost disposable photonic integrated circuits for a wide range of sensor applications.

An evanescent field sensor utilizing layered polymeric-inorganic composite waveguide configuration was developed in this work. The composite waveguide structure consists of a UV-imprint patterned polymer inverted rib waveguide with a Ta2O5 thin film sputter-deposited on top of the low refractive index polymer layers. The results suggest that the polymer based sensor can achieve a detection limit of 3 × 10(-7) RIU for refractive index sensing and corresponding limit of about 100 fg/mm2 for molecular adsorption detection. Besides enhancing the sensitivity significantly, the inorganic coating on the polymer layer was found to block water absorption effectively into the waveguide resulting in a stabilized sensor operation. The ability to use the developed sensor in specific molecular detection was confirmed by investigating antibody - antigen binding reactions. The results of this work demonstrate that high performance sensing capability can be obtained with the developed composite waveguide sensor.

Polymeric slot waveguide structure, which pushes the mode field toward the surrounding media, was designed and characterized. The slot waveguide was fabricated by using nanoimprint lithography, and the operation of the slot was demonstrated at 633 nm wavelength with an integrated Young interferometer. The experimental result shows that the nanolithography method provides possibilities to fabricate disposable slot waveguide sensors.