High Sensitivity Meningococcus Love Wave Acoustic Biosensor

Early detection of meningococcus is critical to controlling its spread and saving lives in time. In this paper, a surface acoustic wave (SAW) device based on Electrode Width Control (EWC) IDT/PMMA/54°Y-X LiNbO₃ is proposed to the detection of meningococcus by Love wave. The advantage of EWC IDT lies not only in overcoming the shortcomings of bidirectional and focused IDTs, but in improving the utilization of acoustic waves and the sensitivity of the sensor. The optimal waveguide layer thickness is determined to be λ/12 by comparing the S₂₁ parameters with different waveguide layers thicknesses. On this basis, the Love wave sensor shows a sensitivity of 330 Hz (ng µL^− 1)⁻¹ and a detection limit of 50 pg µL^− 1.