University of Illinois

Sru Biosystems, Inc.

Stephen C Shulz

Brian T Cunningham

Meng Lu

Anusha Pokhriyal

A photonic crystal substrate exhibiting resonant enhancement of multiple fluorophores has been demonstrated. The device, which can be fabricated uniformly from plastic materials over a &#x2dc;3&#xd7;5 insurface area by nanoreplica molding, features a 1-D periodic grating structure which utilizes two distinct resonant modes to enhance electric field stimulation of a first dye excited by a first laser (e.g., &#x3bb;=632.8 nm laser exciting cyanine-5) and a second dye excited by a second laser (e.g., &#x3bb;=532 nm laser exciting cyanine-3). The first and second lasers could be replaced by a single variable wavelength (tunable) laser. Resonant coupling of the laser excitation to the photonic crystal surface is obtained for each wavelength at a distinct incident angle &#x3b8;. The photonic crystal is capable of amplifying the output of any fluorescent dye with an excitation wavelength in a given wavelength range (e.g., the range 532 nm&#x3c;&#x3bb;&#x3c;660 nm) by selection of an appropriate incident angle. The device can be used for biological assays that utilize multiple fluorescent dyes within a single imaged area, such as gene expression microarrays.

Growing community of inventors

Lee, NH, United States of America

Stephen C Shulz