Selective detection of sub-atto-molar Streptavidin in 1013-fold impure sample using photonic crystal nanolaser sensors

Biosensors selectively detecting a very small amount of biomarker protein in human blood are desired for early and reliable diagnoses of severe diseases. This paper reports the detection of protein (streptavidin: SA) in ultra-low concentration, with an ultra-high selectivity against contaminants, using photonic crystal nanolasers. For biotin-modified nanolasers in pure water with SA, an extremely-low detection limit of 16 zM is evaluated. Even in a mixture with 1 mu M bovine serum albumin as the contaminant, 100 zM SA is detected, meaning a selectivity of 10(13). These are remarkable capabilities that are promising for practical biosensing in the medical applications mentioned above. (C) 2013 Optical Society of America