Nanostructure‐Enhanced Surface Acoustic Waves Biosensor and Its Computational Modeling

Surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices are considered to be very promising in providing a high‐performance sensing platform with wireless and remote operational capabilities. In this review, the basic principles of SAW devices and Love‐mode SAW‐based biosensors are discussed first to illustrate the need for surface enhancement for the active area of a SAW sensor. Then some of the recent efforts made to incorporate nanostructures into SAW sensors are summarized. After that, a computational approach to elucidate the underlying mechanism for the operations of a Love‐mode SAW biosensor with nanostructured active surface is discussed. Finally, a modeling example for a Love‐mode SAW sensor with skyscraper nanopillars added to in its active surface along with some selected results is presented.