Fabrication of Long Range Surface Plasmon Polariton Biosensors Incorporating a Channel Etch Stop Layer and Wafer Bonded Cover

This thesis presents the micro-fabrication process of a Long Range Surface Plasmon Polariton (LRSPP) biosensor device. The fabrication process was modified in two aspects which include adding a channel etch stop layer to improve the accuracy and uniformity of channels in the device and replacing the photoresist etching mask by an Al etching mask to avoid the thermal cracking. The optical performance of the fabricated chips shows that the biosensor has a 5.03dB/mm attenuation loss and has a 0.10dB response for a monolayer of BSA on Au waveguides. CYTOP bonding process was introduced in the fabrication of the device that incorporates a glass cover. A glass wafer was successfully bonded to a silicon wafer by CYTOP bonding process to seal the channels, which ensured an isolated testing environment for the biochemical fluid.