Chip design for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy based on silicon nitride photonic integrated circuits for small extracellular vesicles detection
Sandal N. Vasilev1,2, Aleksei Yu. Kuzin2,4, Vadim V. Kovalyuk2,3, Alexander D. Golikov2,3, Ksenia O. Sedykh2,4, Irina N. Florya2,3, Alexey N. Semenov2, Gregory N. Goltsman4,5, Dmitry A. Gorin1, Alexey M. Yashchenok1;
1Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, Moscow, Russia
2National University of Science and Technology MISIS, Moscow, Russia
3Moscow State Pedagogical University, Moscow, Russia
4National Research University Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia
5Russian Quantum Center, Moscow, Russia
Abstract
Breast cancer remains one of the most aggressive oncological diseases among women, with 2.3 million new cases and 670,000 deaths worldwide registered in 2022 [1]. HER2-positive breast cancer has higher mortality and a low 5-year survival rate, making early diagnosis critical to improving treatment efficiency [2]. Small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) are a promising oncological marker in liquid biopsy, offering high biomolecular representativity and stability. Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) offers a highly sensitive method for detecting sEV phenotypes to reveal their heterogeneity [3]. However, conventional SERS platforms suffer from poor reproducibility, high cost, and bulky instrumentation. These drawbacks can be overcome by integrating SERS into photonic integrated circuits (PICs): Raman signals are enhanced by plasmonic nanopatterns and collected via waveguides, enabling miniaturization and reproducibility [4,5]. This technology thus offers a powerful platform for sEV detection, enabling early diagnosis and treatment monitoring.
In this work, simulations of the PIC-based SERS device were performed in COMSOL Multiphysics, using gold triangles as SERS substrates on a silicon nitride waveguide platform at a pump wavelength of 785 nm. Triangle sizes from 70 to 135 nm were swept to calculate extinction spectra and identify the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) wavelength; the optimal geometry was found at 80–90 nm, where the SPR closely matches the pump wavelength. This geometry yielded a SERS enhancement factor of ~10⁴ and a single-antenna extinction of 0.50 dB at resonance, consistent with literature values [5]. The number of antennas was optimized to 7–8, beyond which extinction outweighs enhancement. Grating couplers were optimized in Lumerical, yielding an optimal period of 0.8 μm and fill factor of 0.45; these parameters have been submitted for fabrication, and coupling efficiency has already been measured experimentally.
This simulation methodology can be extended to a family of SERS-on-chip devices for low-concentration sEV detection and broader biosensing applications. This work was supported by the Russian Science Foundation No. 23-79-00056.
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Speaker
Sandal Vasilev
MISiS, Skoltech
Russia
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