Method of reading encoded particles
First Claim
1. A method, comprising:
- providing a particle having a grating disposed therein, the grating comprising a superposition of different predetermined regular periodic variations of an index of refraction disposed along a grating axis and indicative of a code;
directing an illuminating light beam at the particle other than along the grating axis and other than fully transverse to the grating axis;
reading the code by at least one of i) sensing light that is reflected by the grating and ii) sensing light transmitted through the grating;
determining which of the periodic variations are present; and
constructing a string of bits with each bit in the string predetermined to correspond to a particular one of the periodic variations, the bits being set so as to indicate whether the particular one of the periodic variations is present in the light reflected by the grating or the light transmitted through the grating.
5 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Microparticles 8 includes an optical substrate 10 having at least one diffraction grating 12 disposed therein. The grating 12 having a plurality of colocated pitches Λ which represent a unique identification digital code that is detected when illuminated by incident light 24. The incident light 24 may be directed transversely from the side of the substrate 10 with a narrow band (single wavelength) or multiple wavelength source, in which case the code is represented by a spatial distribution of light or a wavelength spectrum, respectively. The code may be digital binary or may be other numerical bases. The micro-particles 8 can provide a large number of unique codes, e.g., greater than 67 million codes, and can withstand harsh environments. The micro-particles 8 are functionalized by coating them with a material/substance of interest, which are then used to perform multiplexed experiments involving chemical processes, e.g., DNA testing and combinatorial chemistry.
448 Citations
32 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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providing a particle having a grating disposed therein, the grating comprising a superposition of different predetermined regular periodic variations of an index of refraction disposed along a grating axis and indicative of a code; directing an illuminating light beam at the particle other than along the grating axis and other than fully transverse to the grating axis; reading the code by at least one of i) sensing light that is reflected by the grating and ii) sensing light transmitted through the grating; determining which of the periodic variations are present; and constructing a string of bits with each bit in the string predetermined to correspond to a particular one of the periodic variations, the bits being set so as to indicate whether the particular one of the periodic variations is present in the light reflected by the grating or the light transmitted through the grating. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification