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Nature Photonics

Evanescent single-molecule biosensing with quantum-limited precision

Nicolas P. Mauranyapin, Lars S. Madsen, Michael A. Taylor, Muhammad Waleed, Warwick P. Bowen

Published Jun 26, 2017• 145 citations
Publisher
DOI
10.1038/nphoton.2017.99

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Techniques to observe and track single unlabelled biomolecules are crucial for many areas of nanobiotechnology; offering the possibility for lab-on-a-chip medical diagnostics operating at their ultimate detection limits, and to shed light on important nanoscale biological processes such as binding reactions, conformational changes, and motor molecule dynamics. Impressive progress has been made over the past few years to extend the sensitivity of such techniques, primarily via the evanescent field enhancement provided by optical microcavities [1, 2] or plasmonic resonators [3]. However, such approaches expose the biological system to greatly increased optical intensity levels, which can severely impact biological function, growth, structure and viability [4]. Here, we introduce an evanescent biosensing platform that operates at the fundamental precision limit introduced by quantisation of light. This allows a five order-of magnitude reduction in optical intensity whilst maintaining state-of-the-art sensitivity and enabling quantum noise limited tracking of single biomolecules as small as 3.5 nm.

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Abstract Quantum‐enhanced sensing and metrology pave the way for promising routes to fulfil the present day fundamental and technological demands for integrated chips which surpass the classical functional and measurement limits. The most precise measurements of optical properties such as phase or intensity require quantum optical measurement schemes. These non‐classical measurements exploit phenomena such as entanglement and squeezing of optical probe states. They are also subject to lower detection limits as compared to classical photodetection schemes. Biosensing with non‐classical light sources of entangled photons or squeezed light holds the key for realizing quantum optical bioscience laboratories which could be integrated on chip. Single‐molecule sensing with such non‐classical sources of light would be a forerunner to attaining the smallest uncertainty and the highest information per photon number. This demands an integrated non‐classical sensing approach which would combine the subtle non‐deterministic measurement techniques of quantum optics with the device‐level integration capabilities attained through nanophotonics as well as nanoplasmonics. In this back drop, we review the underlining principles in quantum sensing, the quantum optical probes and protocols as well as state‐of‐the‐art building blocks in quantum optical sensing. We further explore the recent developments in quantum photonic/plasmonic sensing and imaging together with the potential of combining them with burgeoning field of coupled cavity integrated optoplasmonic biosensing platforms.

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Techniques to observe and track single unlabelled biomolecules are crucial for many areas of nanobiotechnology; offering the possibility for lab-on-a-chip medical diagnostics operating at their ultimate detection limits, and to shed light on important nanoscale biological processes such as binding reactions, conformational changes, and motor molecule dynamics. Impressive progress has been made over the past few years to extend the sensitivity of such techniques, primarily via the evanescent field enhancement provided by optical microcavities [1, 2] or plasmonic resonators [3]. However, such approaches expose the biological system to greatly increased optical intensity levels, which can severely impact biological function, growth, structure and viability [4]. Here, we introduce an evanescent biosensing platform that operates at the fundamental precision limit introduced by quantisation of light. This allows a five order-of magnitude reduction in optical intensity whilst maintaining state-of-the-art sensitivity and enabling quantum noise limited tracking of single biomolecules as small as 3.5 nm.
Abstract Quantum‐enhanced sensing and metrology pave the way for promising routes to fulfil the present day fundamental and technological demands for integrated chips which surpass the classical functional and measurement limits. The most precise measurements of optical properties such as phase or intensity require quantum optical measurement schemes. These non‐classical measurements exploit phenomena such as entanglement and squeezing of optical probe states. They are also subject to lower detection limits as compared to classical photodetection schemes. Biosensing with non‐classical light sources of entangled photons or squeezed light holds the key for realizing quantum optical bioscience laboratories which could be integrated on chip. Single‐molecule sensing with such non‐classical sources of light would be a forerunner to attaining the smallest uncertainty and the highest information per photon number. This demands an integrated non‐classical sensing approach which would combine the subtle non‐deterministic measurement techniques of quantum optics with the device‐level integration capabilities attained through nanophotonics as well as nanoplasmonics. In this back drop, we review the underlining principles in quantum sensing, the quantum optical probes and protocols as well as state‐of‐the‐art building blocks in quantum optical sensing. We further explore the recent developments in quantum photonic/plasmonic sensing and imaging together with the potential of combining them with burgeoning field of coupled cavity integrated optoplasmonic biosensing platforms.