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Photosensitive Semiconductor GaAs Based High Sensitivity Terahertz Metamaterial Biosensor for Multi-Virus Detection

Received: 17 January 2025     Accepted: 27 January 2025     Published: 17 February 2025
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Abstract

In the present paper, a study and design is presented of a High Sensitivity Terahertz Metamaterial Biosensor for the detection of multiple viruses using the photosensitive semiconductor GaAs. The biosensor comprises a layered structure: a semiconductor GaAs layer at the top, a gold (Au) conductor layer in the middle, and a polyimide substrate at the base. Numerical experimentation in CST Microwave Studio validates the biosensor's efficacy against several dangerous viruses including Early Cancer, Malaria, Dengue, HIV, among others. It exhibits an average sensitivity of 1.673 THz/RIU, a quality factor of 510, and a high Figure of Merit (FOM) of 418.3 RIU-1. Notably, the biosensor demonstrates polarization insensitivity, accommodating both Transverse Electric (TE) and Transverse Magnetic (TM) polarization states. Moreover, its performance is tunable by varying the conductivity via photo-excitation-induced free carriers in GaAs. This versatile biosensor holds significant promise in terahertz technology, particularly within the medical field, for the sensitive detection of multiple viruses. Its unique design and high sensitivity make it a valuable tool for early disease detection and monitoring. Moving forward, further research and development could enhance its applicability and refine its performance characteristics, paving the way for advancements in the rapid and accurate diagnosis of various infectious diseases.

Published in American Journal of Electromagnetics and Applications (Volume 12, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajea.20241201.12
Page(s) 7-13
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Absorber, Biosensor, Gallium Arsenide (GaAs), Metamaterial, Terahertz

1. Introduction
The terahertz frequency lies between the visible and microwave frequency ranges. Recently, researchers worldwide have recognized the potential of terahertz (THz) frequencies for numerous applications in telecommunications , imaging , and sensing , offering advantages over conventional technologies. Metamaterials with unique properties, such as a negative refractive index (RI) and negative dielectric constant, are used to control and manipulate terahertz electromagnetic waves. THz waves have extremely low photon energies—one THz wave corresponds to approximately 4.14 meV, resulting in minimal radiation damage and no ionization of biomolecules . Terahertz Time-Domain Spectroscopy (THz-TDS) technology shows great promise in detecting biomedical and toxic chemicals . However, the detection sensitivity of THz-TDS can sometimes be inadequate for specific substances, such as early-stage cancer detection and multi-virus detection. As a result, there has been significant interest in developing terahertz absorbers for sensing applications in recent years . Ongoing efforts are focused on designing high-sensitivity THz absorbers for biosensing, with the first experimental realization of a perfect metamaterial absorber in the microwave frequency range . Through their distinct spectral responses and biomolecular interactions, recent investigations have shown the promise of THz-based sensors for the detection of a variety of viruses, including HIV, SARS-CoV-2, and influenza . These sensors' increased sensitivity allows for the detection of low virus quantities in complicated samples by combining cutting-edge THz technology with nanomaterials like carbon nanotubes or gold nanoparticles . Additionally, the creation of multiplexed THz biosensors has enormous potential for the simultaneous detection of several viruses in a single test, which would make them indispensable for pandemic response and worldwide health monitoring .
In recent years, various THz biosensor designs incorporating innovative materials such as graphene , gold , InSb , 3D metals , and GaAs have been proposed for diagnostics, medicine, and biomolecular analysis. However, graphene-based sensors are complex to design and tune, with limited maximum absorption efficiency. Similarly, gold, InSb, and 3D metal-based absorbers, while promising, suffer from low-quality factors and sensitivity. Improving the quality factor and sensitivity remains a significant challenge.
In this work, we present a semiconductor GaAs-based photosensitive biosensor for multi-virous detection with an average sensitivity of 1.673 THz/RIU, a quality factor (Q) of 510, and a Figure of Merit (FOM) of 418.3 RIU⁻¹. The proposed biosensor is polarization-insensitive for both TE and TM polarizations and tunable with respect to conductivity changes induced by photo-excitation-generated free carriers in GaAs. The tunability of the sensor expands its sensing bandwidth, making it suitable for various biomedical sensing applications, disease diagnosis, and more.
2. Design of GaAs Metamaterial Absorber (Biosensor)
The suggested high-sensitivity metamaterial biosensor based on the photosensitive semiconductor GaAs is shown schematically in Figure 1. The biosensor is composed of three layers: the top layer is composed of GaAs semiconductor with a thickness of t=10 μm, the intermediate gold layer is 0.2 μm thick, and the bottom substrate polyimide layer is h=50 μm. The conductivity of gold is 3.56 × 107 S/m, while the relative dielectric constant of the top layer GaAs is εr = 12.9 + 0.0774i. The dielectric constant of the bottom polyimide substrate is εr = 3.5. P=140×140µm is the unit cell's size. With a thickness of t = 10 μm, the outer circular ring has a radius of R = 48.5 μm and an inner radius of R1 = 40 μm. Figure 1 displays the unit cell's optimal dimensions as follows: The thickness of the polyimide substrate is h=50 μm, and the period is indicated by P = 140 μm. Figure 2 illustrates the functionality of the suggested GaAs-based terahertz biosensor in the absence of an analyte or virus cells. At a center frequency of 2.04 THz, it exhibits 100% absorption with a quality factor (Q) of 510.
Figure 1. Schematic diagram of the proposed GaAs biosensor.
Figure 2. Performance of proposed GaAs Biosensor.
The suggested biosensor was designed using CST Microwave Studio. The periodic boundary condition was set in the X and Y directions, and the entirely matched layer boundary condition was established in the Z direction for the CST simulation. The simulation of the absorber ranges from 1.9 to 2.10. The reflectivity R of the metamaterial for the normal incidence of the THz wave is determined by the Fresnel formula.
R=Z-Z0Z+Z02= µr-εrµr+εr2(1)
Where Z is the impedance of the material, which is με and Z0 is the impedance of free space, which is μ0ε0. The εr and µr are the relative permittivity and permeability of the material, while μ0 = 4𝜋 × 10-7 H/m and ε0 = 8.85×10-12 F/m are the free space relative permittivity and permeability, respectively. Absorption is given as A=1-R-T, where R is reflectance, and T is transmittance. Since transmittance is considered zero because of the pure conducting backside of the GaAs, hence absorption can be obtained using equation (2).
A=1-R = 1-Z-Z0Z+Z02 = 1-µr-εrµr+εr2(2)
The impedance matching theory states that the effective permittivity and permeability of metamaterials can be adjusted to match the absorber's impedance with free space, or Z=Z0. This requires that the material's permeability and permittivity be equal.
3. Absorber as Biosensor for Multi-Virus Detection
Figure 3. THz metamaterial biosensor with virus cells.
This section demonstrates how the absorber that was designed in part II can be used as a biosensor to identify cancer and multi-virus in its early stages. As illustrated in Figure 3, the Multi-Vrus and cancer cells or analytes have been positioned above the THz metamaterial absorber.
Figure 4. Absorbance with different refractive indexes of various cancer cells.
For instance, in the first case, we are using the refractive index of the cancer cells on the proposed metamaterial GaAs absorber. The absorbance of the biosensor with the different refractive index (RI) for various cancer cells and with normal cells is plotted in Figure 4. When the refractive index (RI) of cancer cells varies, the resonance frequency falls as the RI increases. Figure 4 illustrates the biosensor's performance using a range of cancer cells with variable refractive indices (RIs).
Table 1. Resonance frequencies with different cancer cells.

S. N.

Cell Name

State

Refractive Index (n)

Resonance Frequency (GHz)

Sensitivity (GHz/RIU)

1

air

air

1

2046

1653.4

2

Besal cell

Normal

1.36

1962

1650.0

Cancer

1.38

1929

3

Breast Cell

Normal

1.385

1931

1571.4

Cancer

1.399

1909

4

Cervical Cell

Normal

1.368

1956

1583.3

Cancer

1.392

1918

5

Jurkat

Normal

1.376

1944

1571.4

Cancer

1.39

1922

6

MCF-7

Normal

1.36

1962

1585.4

Cancer

1.401

1908

7

PC12

Normal

1.381

1933

1642.9

Cancer

1.395

1915

Table 2. Resonance frequencies with different Viruses.

S. N.

Virus

Refractive Index (n)

Resonance Frequency (GHz)

Sensitivity (GHz/RIU)

1.

air

1.0

2046

1653.4

2.

Malaria (n1)

1.373

1945

270.7

3.

Malaria (n2)

1.383

1932

297.6

4.

Dengue

1.4

1914

330

5.

HSV

1.41

1899

358.5

6.

Influenza A

1.48

1851

406.2

7.

HIV

1.5

2187

282

8.

Corona

1.53

2150

196.2

Table 1 and Table 2 compare the resonance frequency with different cancer cells and Multi-Virus (Malari, Dengu, and HIV etc.) and tabulate the sensitivity for different refractive indexes. The sensitivity can be defined as Sf=fn GHz/RIU, Quality factor (Q) can be defined as Q=fFWHM, and Figure of merit (FOM) can be defined as FOM=SfFWHM, Where f is the change in frequency, n is the change in the refractive index, and FWHM is the full-width half maximum of the resonance absorption. Our proposed biosensor has an average sensitivity is 1650 GHz/RIU, while the average quality factor Q is 510 and a Figure of merit (FOM) of 418.3 RIU-1. Since the GaAs-based biosensor structure is symmetric, the performance with a normal incident of transverse electric (TE) waves and transverse magnetic wave TM, the absorbance is the same. Hence, we can say that the proposed biosensor is polarization-insensitive. The performance linearity of the proposed biosensor for Multi-Virus and cancer early detection is shown in Tables 1 and 2, with the refractive index starting from n = 1.36 to 1.401 and multi-virus from n=1.373 to 1.53. Cancer cells and normal cells are tabulated in Table 1, while Table 2 is for multi-virus.
Figure 5 shows the resonance frequency dependence on the cancer cells' refractive index (RI), and variation is plotted in Figure 5, which shows that the proposed biosensor has a linear response and can be a linear curve fitting done in equation (3).
freq=1.2802n+3.7018(3)
Figure 5. The resonance frequency dependence on the cancer cell refractive index (RI).
Where n is the cancer cell refractive index (RI), and frequency is the corresponding resonance frequency. The proposed biosensor operation is based on the refractive index (RI) of various virus cells, denoted as n, and the corresponding resonance frequency. This design enables the detection of cancer cells at very early stages, boasting an average sensitivity of 1650 GHz/RIU. Moreover, the biosensor is versatile, demonstrating the capability in detecting multiple viruses. Comparative analysis against recently published research in similar cancer cells RI designs highlights the superior performance of our GaAs-based metamaterial biosensor. Evaluation from Table 3 underscores that our biosensor excels in sensitivity, quality factor, and Figure of Merit (FOM) compared to previous studies. These metrics substantiate the advanced performance of our proposed biosensor. Numerical experimentation confirms the efficacy of our biosensor for critical applications in early cancer detection. The design is straightforward yet highly effective, surpassing the benchmarks set by recent studies in the field.
Table 3. Comparison of our absorber with the recent work.

Ref

Materials

Q

FoM

Sensitivity

Tunability

factor

(RIU-1)

(THz/RIU)

Graphene

----

24

1.775

Yes

Gold

57

11.5

0.281

No

InSb

53

----

1.043

No

3D metal

72

----

0.832

No

GaAs

444

392

1.762

Yes

Our

GaAs

510

418.3

1.673

Yes

Figure 6. Electric field distribution on the GaAs biosensor at 1.9THz.
Figure 6 depicts the distribution of the electric field across the biosensor at a frequency of 1.9 THz. The visualization reveals that the regions of highest electric field intensity concentrate predominantly in the upper and lower halves of the circular GaAs ring. This pattern indicates that the designed biosensor efficiently interacts with electromagnetic waves in the terahertz (THz) range. The significant concentration of electric field suggests that the biosensor can effectively detect and interact with external THz radiation. This characteristic is crucial for its intended application in sensing biological viruses, particularly viruses of cancer cells. Due to the heightened interaction with THz waves, the biosensor exhibits high sensitivity. This sensitivity enhances its capability to detect minute quantities of biomolecules or cells, thereby enabling early-stage detection of multiple viruses and cancer.
The tunability in the proposed biosensor can be realized by generating the free charge carriers with the photon excitation in photosensitive semiconductor GaAs. This can be understood by looking carefully at the frequency response with different conductivity variations. As the conductivity changes from σ=0 S/m to 7 × 105 S/m, the resonance frequency of the proposed biosensor varied. Hence, we can say that by illuminating photosensitive semiconductor GaAs with photons, the conductivity can be changed, and the biosensor can be tuned, as shown in Figure 7.
Figure 7. Variation in resonance frequency of the absorption of the proposed semiconductor GaAS biosensor for different conductivity.
4. Conclusion
This paper presents a photosensitive semiconductor GaAs-based metamaterial biosensor for the early detection of multiple viruses and cancer. The biosensor exhibits an average sensitivity of 1.65 THz/RIU, a quality factor of 510, and a Figure of Merit (FOM) of 418.3 RIU⁻¹. It is polarization-insensitive for both TE and TM polarizations and can be tuned through changes in conductivity induced by photo-excitation, which generates free carriers in GaAs. The proposed biosensor holds promise for applications in terahertz (THz) technology, particularly in the medical field for early cancer detection.
Abbreviations

GaAs

Gallium Arsenide

FOM

Figure of Merit

THz

Terahertz

FWHM

Full-Width Half Maximum

RI

Refractive Index

THz-TDS

Terahertz Time-Domain Spectroscopy

TE

Transverse Electric

TM

Transverse Magnetic

Q

Quality Factor

Author Contributions
Ashwani Kumar: Conceptualization, Data curation, Writing – review & editing
Vikas Yadav: Data curation, Investigation
Funding
This work is supported by Faculty Research Programme Grant – IoE, University of Delhi (Grant No. Ref. No./IoE/2024-25/12/FRP)
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
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    Kumar, A., Yadav, V. (2025). Photosensitive Semiconductor GaAs Based High Sensitivity Terahertz Metamaterial Biosensor for Multi-Virus Detection. American Journal of Electromagnetics and Applications, 12(1), 7-13. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajea.20241201.12

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    Kumar, A.; Yadav, V. Photosensitive Semiconductor GaAs Based High Sensitivity Terahertz Metamaterial Biosensor for Multi-Virus Detection. Am. J. Electromagn. Appl. 2025, 12(1), 7-13. doi: 10.11648/j.ajea.20241201.12

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    AMA Style

    Kumar A, Yadav V. Photosensitive Semiconductor GaAs Based High Sensitivity Terahertz Metamaterial Biosensor for Multi-Virus Detection. Am J Electromagn Appl. 2025;12(1):7-13. doi: 10.11648/j.ajea.20241201.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajea.20241201.12,
      author = {Ashwani Kumar and Vikas Yadav},
      title = {Photosensitive Semiconductor GaAs Based High Sensitivity Terahertz Metamaterial Biosensor for Multi-Virus Detection
    },
      journal = {American Journal of Electromagnetics and Applications},
      volume = {12},
      number = {1},
      pages = {7-13},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajea.20241201.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajea.20241201.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajea.20241201.12},
      abstract = {In the present paper, a study and design is presented of a High Sensitivity Terahertz Metamaterial Biosensor for the detection of multiple viruses using the photosensitive semiconductor GaAs. The biosensor comprises a layered structure: a semiconductor GaAs layer at the top, a gold (Au) conductor layer in the middle, and a polyimide substrate at the base. Numerical experimentation in CST Microwave Studio validates the biosensor's efficacy against several dangerous viruses including Early Cancer, Malaria, Dengue, HIV, among others. It exhibits an average sensitivity of 1.673 THz/RIU, a quality factor of 510, and a high Figure of Merit (FOM) of 418.3 RIU-1. Notably, the biosensor demonstrates polarization insensitivity, accommodating both Transverse Electric (TE) and Transverse Magnetic (TM) polarization states. Moreover, its performance is tunable by varying the conductivity via photo-excitation-induced free carriers in GaAs. This versatile biosensor holds significant promise in terahertz technology, particularly within the medical field, for the sensitive detection of multiple viruses. Its unique design and high sensitivity make it a valuable tool for early disease detection and monitoring. Moving forward, further research and development could enhance its applicability and refine its performance characteristics, paving the way for advancements in the rapid and accurate diagnosis of various infectious diseases.
    },
     year = {2025}
    }
    

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    T1  - Photosensitive Semiconductor GaAs Based High Sensitivity Terahertz Metamaterial Biosensor for Multi-Virus Detection
    
    AU  - Ashwani Kumar
    AU  - Vikas Yadav
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    T2  - American Journal of Electromagnetics and Applications
    JF  - American Journal of Electromagnetics and Applications
    JO  - American Journal of Electromagnetics and Applications
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    EP  - 13
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
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    AB  - In the present paper, a study and design is presented of a High Sensitivity Terahertz Metamaterial Biosensor for the detection of multiple viruses using the photosensitive semiconductor GaAs. The biosensor comprises a layered structure: a semiconductor GaAs layer at the top, a gold (Au) conductor layer in the middle, and a polyimide substrate at the base. Numerical experimentation in CST Microwave Studio validates the biosensor's efficacy against several dangerous viruses including Early Cancer, Malaria, Dengue, HIV, among others. It exhibits an average sensitivity of 1.673 THz/RIU, a quality factor of 510, and a high Figure of Merit (FOM) of 418.3 RIU-1. Notably, the biosensor demonstrates polarization insensitivity, accommodating both Transverse Electric (TE) and Transverse Magnetic (TM) polarization states. Moreover, its performance is tunable by varying the conductivity via photo-excitation-induced free carriers in GaAs. This versatile biosensor holds significant promise in terahertz technology, particularly within the medical field, for the sensitive detection of multiple viruses. Its unique design and high sensitivity make it a valuable tool for early disease detection and monitoring. Moving forward, further research and development could enhance its applicability and refine its performance characteristics, paving the way for advancements in the rapid and accurate diagnosis of various infectious diseases.
    
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