The first absorbance biosensor based on pure siliconhollow integrated wa
veguides is presented in this work.With the use of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) as a modelrecognition element, an enzymatic sensor for the measurement of hydrogen peroxide was fabricated, numerically simulated, and experimentally characterized. Wa
veguideswith widths ranging from 50 to 80
m, ha
ving a depth of50
m and lengths up to 5 mm were easily fabricated byjust one photolithographic step. These were further modified by co
valent immobilization of HRP using silanizationchemistry. Simulation studies of the proposed approachshowed a sensor linear beha
vior up to 300
M H
2O
2 anda sensiti
vity of 2.7 × 10
-3 AU/
M. Experimental resultswere in good agreement with the simulated ones. A linearbeha
vior between 10 and 300
M H
2O
2, a sensiti
vity of3 × 10
-3 AU/
M, and a signal-to-noise ratio around 20dB were attained. Also, kinetic studies of the acti
vity ofthe immobilized enzyme on the silicon wa
veguide surfacega
ve an apparent Michaelis-Menten constant of 0.44mM. The simple technology proposed in this work enablesthe fabrication of cost-effecti
ve, easy-to-use, miniaturizedbiosensor generic platforms, these being en
visioned asexcellent candidates for the de
velopment of lab-on-a-chipsystems.