Sensitive, label-free, and selective sensors are of importance for a wide variety of applications, in particular medical diagnostics, and environmental monitoring. Microtoroid optical resonators, when combined with frequency locking, balanced detection, and data processing techniques, are capable of single molecule detection. We have developed such a system called FLOWER (frequency locked optical whispering evanescent resonator). We discuss our latest work on using FLOWER for a variety of applications including medical diagnostics for ovarian cancer and Alzheimer’s disease, chemical threat sensing, and drug screening. In addition, we discuss our next generation sensing platforms.
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