Detection of Lead Contamination of Water and VOC Contamination of Air Using SOI Micro-Optical Devices

Micro-photonic SOI Mach-Zehnder interferometers were coated with solid-phase micro-extraction materials derived from polydimethylsiloxane to enable sensing of volatile organic compounds of the BTEX class in air. A different coating based on functionalized mesoporous silicates is used to detect lead Pb(II) with a detection limit of <;; 100 ppb in water.