Seminar Details
2026-06-18 (11:00) : Interfacing molecules with silicon metamaterials for sensing applications
At Shannon
Duration: 60 minutes
Organized by Electrical Engineering
Michael J. Sailor
Professor Sailor’s research focuses on silicon-based nanomaterials, with emphasis on drug delivery, imaging, and sensing applications. He is an expert in the chemistry, electrochemistry, and optical properties of nanomaterials, in particular porous silicon-based systems.
Abstract :
Combining the functions of biologics or reporter molecules within microelectronic systems is a growing discipline, with a wide range of applications in sensing, healthcare, robotics, and human factors engineering. There are many examples in which native or near-native proteins have been integrated into devices (e.g., glucose sensors, antigen detection kits, DNA sequencing devices, etc.), and some examples of engineered proteins that can function in non-native media or in more challenging environments. There are needs both for new molecules and for new materials that can enable hybrid optical sensor systems with enhanced performance in terms of sensitivity, selectivity, or long-term stability. Mesoporous silicon, generated by anodization of single-crystal silicon wafers, provides a means to integrate potential reporter molecules (indicator dyes, fluorescent proteins, enzymes, etc.) within nanoscale silicon metamaterials (such as photonic crystals) to achieve such enhanced performance. The effects of modulating mesopore dimensions, surface charge, and surface chemistry on performance characteristics such as enzyme turnover rates, ingress/egress of reactants/products, and enhanced optical responses will be discussed.