Optical Biosensor for Detection of Listeria monocytogenes

In this work we have designed and optimized a Mach-Zehnder Interferometer (MZI) optical biosensor for detection of food borne pathogen, Listeria monocytogenes. Different MZI configurations are simulated and the best one in terms of minimal losses is identified for further fabrication of the sensor. The fabricated MZI sensor has selectivity towards Listeria and the limit of detection for the device is 10^5 cfu/ml.  The sensor also provides a way to detect unknown concentration of Listeria through power measurements.