Waveguide grating structure and optical measurement arrangement

• US 9,170,201 B2
• Filed: 07/01/2013
• Issued: 10/27/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 08/09/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Artificial Sensing Instruments ASI AG
• Original Assignee: Artificial Sensing Instruments ASI AG
• Inventors: Tiefenthaler, Kurt
• Primary Examiner(s): Lepisto, Ryan
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chiem, Erin
• Application Number:
  US13/932,278
• Publication Number:
  US 20130288357A1
• Time in Patent Office: 848 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2021/6463 Optics
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/648 using evanescent coupling or surface plasmon coupling for the excitation of fluorescence
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/6486 Measuring fluorescence of biological material, e.g. DNA, RNA, cells G01N21/6428 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/7743 the reagent-coated grating coupling light in or out of the waveguide
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2201/08 Optical fibres; light guides
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/54373 involving physiochemical end-point determination, e.g. wave-guides, FETS, gratings
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2006/12107 Grating
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/124 Geodesic lenses or integrated gratings
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/32 having lens focusing means positioned between opposed fibre ends with lens being an integral part of the single fibre end G02B6/262
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 385/901 Illuminating or display apparatus

Abstract

The present invention describes (bio)chemo-functional waveguide grating structures consisting of at least one (bio)chemo-functional waveguide grating structure unit or at least one (bio)chemo-functional sensor location with beam guidance permitting light beam separation, as well as detection methods for parallel analysis which are marking-free or based on marking.

Claims

1. A sensor, comprising:

a light source for producing at least one incident light field;

a sensor chip, the sensor chip comprising;

a substrate; and

a waveguide grating structure on the substrate, the waveguide grating structure comprising at least one waveguide grating and having a plurality of waveguide grating structure units or sensor locations, wherein at least one of said waveguide grating structure units or sensor locations comprises at least one sensing pad and at least one chemofunctional layer or biological cell covering at least partially said at least one sensing pad of said at least one waveguide grating structure unit or sensor location, wherein the waveguide grating structure emits at least one light field when the incident light field at least partially illuminates the waveguide grating structure, the light field being dependent on a change of the effective index of refraction caused by a reaction of a sample with the at least one chemofunctional layer or biological cell;

a detector device comprising a one-dimensional or two-dimensional array of detectors; and

a wavelength scanning device located in a light field emitted from the light source to influence light emitted from the light source to yield the incident light field, or a wavelength scanning device located in the light field emitted from the waveguide grating structure to influence the light field emitted from the waveguide grating structure to yield an influenced emitted light field incident on the detector device,

wherein the sensor detects a wavelength dependent signal as a function of a scanning wavelength set by the wavelength scanning device,

and the wavelength dependent signal is indicative of the change of the effective index of refraction caused by the reaction of the sample with the at least one chemofunctional layer or biological cell.

2. The sensor of claim 1, wherein the light source is a white light source or a broadband light source.

3. The sensor of claim 1, wherein the detector device comprises a one-dimensional or two-dimensional pixel array detector, a CCD, a CMOS array, a photodiode array, or a CCD camera.

4. The sensor of claim 1, further comprising at least one beam splitter.

5. The sensor of claim 4, wherein the beam splitter is arranged in a light field of the light emitted from the waveguide grating structure, between the waveguide grating structure and the detector device.

6. The sensor of claim 5, wherein the light field of the light emitted from the waveguide grating structure comprises a portion of reflected light reflected by the waveguide grating structure, and wherein the beam splitter is arranged in a light field of the reflected light.

7. The sensor of claim 1, wherein the incident light is incident from a perpendicular direction.

8. The sensor of claim 1, wherein the at least one chemofunctional layer directly contacts the waveguide grating structure or a linker layer on the waveguide grating structure, or wherein the at least one biological cell directly contacts the waveguide grating structure or a modified surface of the waveguide grating structure.

9. The sensor of claim 1, further comprising collimation optics between the light source and the waveguide grating structure.

10. The sensor of claim 1, further comprising a beam expansion optics between the light source and the waveguide grating structure.

11. The sensor of claim 1, further comprising a lens system between the waveguide grating structure and the detector device.

12. The sensor of claim 11, wherein the lens system images at least parts of the waveguide grating structure onto the detector device.

13. The sensor of claim 1, further comprising a beam expansion optics between the light source and the waveguide grating structure, wherein the wavelength scanning device is positioned between the light source and the beam expansion optics.

14. The sensor of claim 1, wherein the wavelength scanning device is a scanning Fabry-Perot interferometer.

15. The sensor of claim 14, further comprising collimation optics between the light source and the waveguide grating structure.

16. The sensor of claim 1, wherein the detector device comprises a CMOS array.

17. The sensor of claim 1, further comprising at least one tempering device.

18. The sensor of claim 17, further comprising temperature controls associated with the tempering device.

19. The sensor of claim 1, wherein the waveguide grating structure is illuminated by the light emitted from the light source at a fixed angle.

20. The sensor of claim 19, wherein the at least one incident light field is a collimated beam light field.

21. The sensor of claim 1, wherein the at least one incident light field is a collimated beam light field.

22. The sensor of claim 1, wherein the wavelength scanning varies the wavelength in a scan interval range that contains a resonance wavelength corresponding to an excitation of a guided mode.

23. The sensor of claim 1, wherein the waveguide grating structure comprises at least one reference sensing pad.

24. The sensor of claim 1, further comprising at least one liquid holder or sample accommodating device, wherein the at least one liquid holder or sample accommodating device is affixed onto the waveguide grating structure or wherein the waveguide grating structure is inserted into the at least one liquid holder or sample accommodating device.

25. The sensor of claim 24, wherein the liquid holder or sample accommodating device comprises at least one well or at least one flow-through cuvette or at least one capillary cuvette or at least one lab-on-chip.

26. The sensor of claim 24, wherein the liquid holders or sample accommodating devices are arranged in a one-dimensional or two-dimensional array like manner or circular ring like manner.

27. The sensor of claim 26, wherein the liquid holders or sample accommodating devices are formed by a well plate.

28. The sensor of claim 27, wherein the well plate comprises 24 wells or 48 wells or 96 wells or 384 wells or 1536 wells.

29. The sensor of claim 27, further comprising a cover plate.

30. The sensor of claim 26, wherein the arrangement comprises 24 wells or 48 wells or 96 wells or 384 wells or 1536 wells.

31. The sensor of claim 24, wherein the liquid holder or sample accommodating device is at least partially made of scatter radiation absorbing material.

32. The sensor of claim 24, further comprising a cover plate.