Ultrasensitive Graphene-TMD Heterostructure Optical Biosensors Integrated with Silicon Photonics for Label-Free Detection

Ultrasensitive Graphene-TMD Heterostructure Optical Biosensors Integrated with Silicon Photonics for Label-Free Detection | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Ultrasensitive Graphene-TMD Heterostructure Optical Biosensors Integrated with Silicon Photonics for Label-Free Detection Arash Vaghef-Koodehi This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7279468/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This work presents a breakthrough optical biosensing platform utilizing graphene–transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) heterostructures monolithically integrated with silicon photonic waveguides. The engineered van der Waals heterostructure exploits synergistic light-matter interactions between graphene’s tunable plasmonic properties and TMD’s direct bandgap characteristics to achieve unprecedented detection sensitivity. Our platform demonstrates label-free biomolecule detection with an exceptional limit of detection of 10 − 18 M—three orders of magnitude superior to conventional surface plasmon resonance biosensors (10 − 12 M) and two orders better than existing graphene-based sensors (10 − 17 M). The heterostructure exhibits voltage-tunable optical properties through electrostatic gating, enabling dynamic sensitivity optimization via epsilon-near-zero condition manipulation with up to 30% transmission modulation depth. Comprehensive characterization confirmed high-quality monolayer materials (I ₂ D/IG > 2, ID/IG < 0.1) with optical measurements perfectly matching theoretical predictions. Biosensing performance was validated using clinically relevant biomarkers including cardiac troponin I, PSA, miRNA-21, IL-6, and SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, demonstrating exceptional specificity (> 95%), rapid response kinetics (2–15 seconds), and remarkable 30-day operational stability in complex biological matrices. Silicon photonics integration enables unprecedented miniaturization (footprint < 100 µm²) and multiplexing capabilities with ultralow energy consumption ( 80% yield and full CMOS compatibility for cost-effective mass production. This research addresses critical biosensing limitations—insufficient sensitivity for early disease detection, bulky instrumentation, and high costs. Our graphene-TMD platform represents a paradigm shift toward portable, multiplexed, ultrasensitive diagnostic tools capable of detecting biomarkers at physiologically relevant concentrations, establishing a new benchmark for next-generation point-of-care diagnostics and personalized medicine applications. Physical sciences/Materials science Physical sciences/Nanoscience and technology Physical sciences/Optics and photonics Graphene-TMD heterostructures optical biosensors silicon photonics ultrasensitive detection point-of-care diagnostics Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7279468","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":501539181,"identity":"988a1733-be13-4dc2-b381-9b3fd3bf25f1","order_by":0,"name":"Arash Vaghef-Koodehi","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAzElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYJACZhDBDyISCkjRItkA0mJAihaDA2CSCOX8sw8//lzYZhdtfH514ocHBgzy/GIH8GuROJdmJj2zLTl32423myWADjOcOTuBgDVnGMyYec4wA7Wc3QDSkmBwm4AW+TPsnz/znKnP3Tzj7OYfRGkxOMNjIM1TcTh3A3/vNuJsMTzDUwbUcjx3xg3ebRYJBhKE/SJ3hn3zZx6D6tz+/rObb/6osJHnlyagBQEkwColiFUOAvwHSFE9CkbBKBgFIwkAADJaQ09Lb4GcAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"","institution":"University of Kashan","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Arash","middleName":"","lastName":"Vaghef-Koodehi","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-08-02 16:23:19","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7279468/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7279468/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":92982323,"identity":"88b5dc96-7750-409b-9aec-856f46e0d157","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2025-10-07 20:01:48","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":2069857,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"UltrasensitiveGrapheneTMDHeterostructureV1.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-7279468/v1_covered_164403d3-adba-49d7-8865-43b7cc00219b.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Ultrasensitive Graphene-TMD Heterostructure Optical Biosensors Integrated with Silicon Photonics for Label-Free Detection","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Graphene-TMD heterostructures, optical biosensors, silicon photonics, ultrasensitive detection, point-of-care diagnostics","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7279468/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7279468/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis work presents a breakthrough optical biosensing platform utilizing graphene\u0026ndash;transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) heterostructures monolithically integrated with silicon photonic waveguides. The engineered van der Waals heterostructure exploits synergistic light-matter interactions between graphene\u0026rsquo;s tunable plasmonic properties and TMD\u0026rsquo;s direct bandgap characteristics to achieve unprecedented detection sensitivity. Our platform demonstrates label-free biomolecule detection with an exceptional limit of detection of 10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;18\u003c/sup\u003e M\u0026mdash;three orders of magnitude superior to conventional surface plasmon resonance biosensors (10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;12\u003c/sup\u003e M) and two orders better than existing graphene-based sensors (10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;17\u003c/sup\u003e M). The heterostructure exhibits voltage-tunable optical properties through electrostatic gating, enabling dynamic sensitivity optimization via epsilon-near-zero condition manipulation with up to 30% transmission modulation depth. Comprehensive characterization confirmed high-quality monolayer materials (I\u003csub\u003e₂\u003c/sub\u003eD/IG\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;2, ID/IG\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;0.1) with optical measurements perfectly matching theoretical predictions. Biosensing performance was validated using clinically relevant biomarkers including cardiac troponin I, PSA, miRNA-21, IL-6, and SARS-CoV-2 spike protein, demonstrating exceptional specificity (\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;95%), rapid response kinetics (2\u0026ndash;15 seconds), and remarkable 30-day operational stability in complex biological matrices. Silicon photonics integration enables unprecedented miniaturization (footprint\u0026thinsp;\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;100 \u0026micro;m\u0026sup2;) and multiplexing capabilities with ultralow energy consumption (\u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;1 fJ/bit). Surface functionalization using pyrene derivatives preserves 2D material properties while providing selective biomolecule recognition. The scalable CVD-based fabrication achieves\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;80% yield and full CMOS compatibility for cost-effective mass production. This research addresses critical biosensing limitations\u0026mdash;insufficient sensitivity for early disease detection, bulky instrumentation, and high costs. Our graphene-TMD platform represents a paradigm shift toward portable, multiplexed, ultrasensitive diagnostic tools capable of detecting biomarkers at physiologically relevant concentrations, establishing a new benchmark for next-generation point-of-care diagnostics and personalized medicine applications.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Ultrasensitive Graphene-TMD Heterostructure Optical Biosensors Integrated with Silicon Photonics for Label-Free Detection","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-08-19 13:49:26","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7279468/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"1f74a49b-8f6b-4731-aac7-c85b289fffe4","owner":[],"postedDate":"August 19th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[{"id":53267034,"name":"Physical sciences/Materials science"},{"id":53267035,"name":"Physical sciences/Nanoscience and technology"},{"id":53267036,"name":"Physical sciences/Optics and photonics"}],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2025-10-07T19:53:41+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-08-19 13:49:26","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7279468","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7279468","identity":"rs-7279468","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}