Acoustic wave sensor apparatus, method and system using wide bandgap materials

1. An acoustic wave sensor to detect an analyte, comprising:

a piezoelectric material including a wide bandgap semiconductor material grown using plasma source molecular beam epitaxy;

a micro-machined arrangement having a resonating frequency; and

an immobilization layer traversing the micro-machined arrangement, the layer containing a binding site to allow a target structure of the analyte to bind to the micro-machined arrangement so as to chance the resonating frequency,

wherein the immobilization layer includes a chemical linker and wherein the chemical linker is p-maleimidophenyl isocyanate.

2. An acoustic wave sensor to detect an analyte, comprising:

a piezoelectric material including a wide bandgap semiconductor material grown using plasma source molecular beam epitaxy;

a micro-machined arrangement having a resonating frequency;

an immobilization layer traversing the micro-machined arrangement, the layer containing a binding site to allow a target structure of the analyte to bind to the micro-machined arrangement so as to change the resonating frequency;

a laser diode arrangement capable of high frequency modulation to generate a pulsed laser light;

a waveguide arrangement to transport the pulsed laser light; and

a carbon implanted region to receive the pulsed laser light and to provide a bulk wave to the micro-machined arrangement.

3. The acoustic wave sensor of claim 2 , wherein the waveguide arrangement is fabricated using a wide bandgap semiconductor material using plasma source molecular beam epitaxy.

4. The acoustic wave sensor of claim 3 , wherein the waveguide arrangement includes aluminum nitride.

5. The acoustic wave sensor of claim 2 , further comprising an array of waveguide arrangements.

6. The acoustic wave sensor of claim 2 , wherein the sensor includes a photonic waveguide coupling to reduce noise and cross-talk at a high frequency.

7. An acoustic wave sensor to detect an analyte, comprising:

a piezoelectric material including a wide bandgap semiconductor material grown using plasma source molecular beam epitaxy;

a micro-machined arrangement having a resonating frequency; and

an immobilization layer traversing the micro-machined arrangement, the layer containing a binding site to allow a target structure of the analyte to bind to the micro-machined arrangement so as to change the resonating frequency,

wherein the sensor is operable to detect 5 molecules of 100,000 daltons.

8. An acoustic wave sensor to detect an analyte, comprising:

a piezoelectric material including a wide bandgap semiconductor material grown using plasma source molecular beam epitaxy;

a micro-machined arrangement having a resonating frequency; and

an immobilization layer traversing the micro-machined arrangement, the layer containing a binding site to allow a target structure of the analyte to bind to the micro-machined arrangement so as to change the resonating frequency,

wherein the sensor is operable to detect a binding of a monolayer of oxygen to less than 1% of a 100 μm×100 μm surface area of the sensor.

9. A method for operating an acoustic wave sensor, comprising:

generating an acoustic wave;

directing the acoustic wave to transverse a micro-machined arrangement;

detecting a resonating frequency of the micro-machined arrangement;

determining a presence of an analyte based on the detected resonating frequency, wherein the analyte contains a target structure that binds to an immobilization layer of the micro-machined arrangement;

providing a laser light from a laser diode via a waveguide arrangement; and

receiving the laser light in a carbon-implanted region.

10. An acoustic wave sensor to detect an analyte, comprising:

a piezoelectric material including a wide bandgap semiconductor material grown using plasma source molecular beam epitaxy;

a micro-machined arrangement having a resonating frequency; and

an immobilization layer traversing the micro-machined arrangement, the layer containing a binding site to allow a target structure of the analyte to bind to the micro-machined arrangement so as to change the resonating frequency, wherein:

the micro-machined arrangement includes a wide bandgap semiconductor material;

the sensor is operable in a surface acoustic mode;

the sensor is operable in a surface transverse mode;

the sensor is operable in a liquid medium and maintains a high sensitivity without a severe attenuation;

the immobilization layer includes a chemical linker; and

the chemical linker is p-maleimidophenyl isocyanate.