Dielectric Metasurfaces Enabling Advanced Optical Biosensors

Abstract

Dielectric metasurfaces have emerged as a powerful platform for novel optical biosensors. Due to their low optical loss and strong light–matter interaction, they demonstrate several exotic optical properties, including sharp resonances, strong near-field enhancements, and the compelling capability to support magnetic modes. They also show advantages such as CMOS-compatible fabrication processes and lower resonance-induced heating compared to their plasmonic counterparts. These unique characteristics are enabling the advancement of cutting-edge sensing techniques for new applications. In this Perspective, we review the recent progress of dielectric metasurface sensors. First, the working mechanisms and properties of dielectric metasurfaces are briefly introduced by highlighting several state-of-the-art examples. Next, we describe the application of dielectric metasurfaces for label-free sensing in three different detection schemes, namely, refractometric sensing, surface-enhanced spectroscopy through Raman scattering and infrared absorption, and chiral sensing. Finally, we provide a perspective for the future directions of this exciting research field.