Graphene-based 1D defective photonic crystal biosensor for real-time detection of cancer cells

Miniaturized biosensor with fabrication feasibility is of tremendous interest for point-of-care testing of cancer cells. With this objective, we propose a novel biophotonic sensor based on graphene embedded defect 1D photonic crystal (PhC) for real-time detection of different cancerous cells like basal, cervical and breast cancer cells. The transfer matrix method is employed to study the transmittance and absorption spectra of different cells under consideration. The cornerstone of this work is based on an the assay of shift in resonant mode wavelength formed within the transmittance and absorption spectra, by infiltrating the defect layer with the normal and cancer cells. The proposed structure is optimized vis-à-vis the selection of materials, thickness of dielectric layers, period of dielectric layers, thickness of defect layer and angle of incidence to envisage efficient cancer sensor. The sensor is characterized with high sensitivity, high signal-to-noise ratio, large quality factor, high figure of merit, high dynamic range, low resolution (R) of 290 nm/RIU, 52.96, 2270.74, 1074.04 1/RIU, 1179.94, and 0.0668 nm, respectively, which ensures reliable and accurate detection of cancer cells. The significance of this research is proved by comparing the results with previously published works. Moreover, the simple structure, cost-effective fabrication methods and label-free detection of cancer cells make the proposed sensor a promising challenger for biosensing applications.