Speaker: Prof. Eleni Makarona

Time: 15:30-17:30,  June 8, 2026

Venue：B1-c101

Abstract

Silicon photonic biosensors have attracted considerable interest over the past two decades due to their potential for label-free, highly sensitive, and multiplexed detection within compact integrated platforms. Nevertheless, despite major advances in photonic device engineering, the translation of optical biosensors from laboratory demonstrations to point-of-need operation remains a significant challenge. System complexity, dependence on external fluidic infrastructure, and operational constraints continue to limit broader implementation in real-world environments.

This lecture will present our work on integrated optical biosensing platforms based on silicon photonics, with particular emphasis on interferometric sensing architectures and application-driven system development. The discussion will focus on the development of broadband interferometric biosensors and on strategies aimed at reducing system complexity while preserving the advantages of integrated photonic sensing.

Particular attention will be given to an immersible silicon photonic biosensor concept designed to operate in a direct “dip-and-read” configuration. By eliminating the need for external pumps, tubing, and microfluidic networks, this approach explores alternative pathways toward robust and operationally simplified sensing systems suitable for point-of-need applications.

At the same time, the lecture will emphasize that no single biosensing architecture can efficiently address the broad range of constraints encountered across different application domains. Requirements related to sensitivity, selectivity, cost, disposability, robustness, and ease of use often differ substantially depending on the intended operating environment and end-user needs. For this reason, our work follows a portfolio-based approach, involving the development of complementary biosensing technologies tailored to different application scenarios rather than pursuing a universal platform solution.

An important aspect of this approach is the integration of the full development chain, spanning sensor design, device fabrication, biofunctionalization, system implementation, and experimental evaluation. This enables the development of biosensing systems under realistic operational considerations, with emphasis placed not only on photonic performance, but also on deployability and end-user relevance.

Selected examples from health diagnostics, environmental monitoring, food safety, and public safety applications will be presented to illustrate how integrated photonic technologies can contribute to the realization of point-of-need sensing systems designed around real-life operational requirements.

Biography

  Dr Eleni Makarona

Photonic Devices and Systems Group, Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, NCSR “Demokritos”

Dr. Eleni Makarona is Director of Research at the Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, NCSR Demokritos, Greece. She holds a PhD in Physics from Brown University (USA), where she trained under Prof. Arto V. Nurmikko on III-nitride optoelectronics.

After returning to Greece she joined the Institute of Microelectronics (now Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology) of NCSR “Demokritos”, where she serves to day as a Director of research. Her research spans two parallel axes maintained continuously for nearly two decades: silicon photonic biosensors, and chemically synthesized metal oxide nanostructures. Her work on photonic sensors covers applications in biodiagnostics, food safety and quality assurance, and environmental monitoring. Moreover, she is co-inventor of the Broadband Mach-Zehnder Interferometer and Broadband Young Interferometer detection architectures — novel sensing principles that progressed from fundamental invention through patents to international prototype deployment. In metal oxide nanostructures, her work follows a material-first philosophy in which device concepts emerge from deep understanding of the materials themselves and then transformed into concepts spanning optoelectronics, sensing, energy harvesting, and hardware security.

She has led or coordinated competitive research programs across European and national frameworks, and has delivered invited presentations at international conferences. She was awarded the Greek L'Oréal–UNESCO Award for Young Women in Science in 2010.