Photonic crystal sensors have recently drawn much attention due to their inherent compactness
and high sensitivity. Different types of photonic crystal sensors rely on one main transduction mechanism:
perturbations in environmental conditions alter index of refraction or periodicity of the structure which is
transferred to a detectable change in optical power or spectrum. This transduction mechanism facilitates
utilization of photonic crystal for sensor applications ranging from pressure and displacement measurements
to detection of chemical composition change and binding events. In this chapter, we give a summary of
different types of photonic crystal sensors such as waveguides, microcavities and self-assembled 3D
structures and review their application to physical, chemical and biological sensing. We discuss advantages
and limitations of the technology.
Keywords: Optical sensing, photonic crystals, compact sensors.
