Biophotonics: Spectroscopy of Picoliter Fluid Volumes for Biological and Chemical Analysis

California Institute Of Technology, Pasadena CA

Investigators

Abstract

0119493 Scherer The objective of the proposed research is to develop and build compact absorption spectrometers and fluorescence measurement systems with the capability to test and identify the composition of picoliters of analyte. The approach is to integrate microfabrication techniques for both microfluidic and photonic devices in order to create monolithic analysis "chips" for bio-analysis applications. Specifically, three optical technologies will be developed and integrated into microfluidic systems: (1) Fabry-Perot optical resonators with high-finesse for optical spectroscopy, (2) photonic crystal nanocavities for interferometric sensing with high sensitivity, and (3) development of manufacturable solid immersion lenses for high numerical aperture examination of microfluidic samples.