On-line monitoring of polymer deposition for tailoring the waveguide characteristics of love-wave biosensors.

The Love-wave sensor is an acoustic sensing device which is particularly suitable for sensing in a liquid environment. The superior characteristics of the device are achieved by the use of an acoustic waveguide, consisting of a thin layer deposited on the surface of the substrate material. The exact thickness and material properties of the layer will not only determine sensitivity and sensing performance of the resulting device but can also be adjusted to generate higher-order Love modes. Thus, to obtain a sensing device with the desired specifications, precise control over the process of waveguide deposition is required. This has been realized by implementation of a vapor deposition polymerization system where the transmission curve (amplitude vs frequency) of one of the sensing devices is continuously monitored during deposition. As soon as the desired device specifications are reached, the deposition can be interrupted immediately. From the recorded transmission curves, information about the sensitivity of the device can be deduced, and the formation of higher-order Love modes can be visualized. The system has been used to produce biosensors based on various Love modes. It is shown that sensors operated on higher-order Love modes have a high mass sensitivity which, together with their excellent shielding properties, makes them advantageous for biosensing in conducting buffer solutions.