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Device for use in the detection of binding affinities

  • US 10,156,524 B2
  • Filed: 12/03/2013
  • Issued: 12/18/2018
  • Est. Priority Date: 12/04/2012
  • Status: Active Grant
First Claim
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1. A device for use in the detection of binding affinities, the device comprising:

  • a substrate having a bottom surface, a top surface, two side surfaces and two end surfaces,a planar waveguide arranged on and in physical contact with the top surface of the substrate and having an inner surface in physical contact with the top surface of the substrate and an outer surface opposite the inner surface, the planar waveguide having a length dimension and a width dimension,an optical coupler in physical contact with the planar waveguide and having a first plurality of grating lines, the optical coupler having a width dimension in a direction of the width dimension of the planar waveguide, the optical coupler having a length dimension in a direction of the length dimension of the planar waveguide,a binding area positioned on the outer surface of the planar waveguide and in front of the optical coupler along the length dimension of the planar waveguide,the binding area comprising a plurality of binding sites arranged in straight lines at a first angle to the length dimension of the planar waveguide, the plurality of binding sites arranged in straight lines comprising capture molecules, andthe binding area having a width dimension in the direction of a width dimension of the planar waveguide, the width dimension of the binding area being less than the width dimension of the optical coupler,anda further optical coupler in physical contact with the planar waveguide and spaced from the optical coupler and the binding area comprising the plurality of binding sites in the direction of the width dimension of the planar waveguide, the further optical coupler having a second plurality of grating lines at a second angle to the first angle along which the plurality of binding sites are arranged, the second plurality of grating lines having a respective curvature and being arranged with a decreasing distance between adjacent grating lines,the further optical coupler being arranged outside of the width dimension of the optical coupler but within the width dimension of the planar waveguide,wherein;

    the optical coupler is configured to receive from a source a first coherent light beam of a predetermined wavelength and couple a second coherent light beam through the planar waveguide to the binding area comprising the plurality of binding sites, the capture molecules being capable of binding the target samples, the target samples configured to diffract the second coherent light beam and couple a third coherent light beam into the further optical coupler,andthe further optical coupler being configured to couple a fourth coherent light beam out of the planar waveguide to interfere at a predetermined detection location with a difference in optical path length that is an integer multiple of the predetermined wavelength of the first coherent light beam.

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