Waveguide grating structure and optical measurement arrangement

• US 9,341,573 B2
• Filed: 10/21/2015
• Issued: 05/17/2016
• 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:
  US14/919,202
• Publication Number:
  US 20160041096A1
• Time in Patent Office: 209 Days
• Field of Search: None
• 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:

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

a sensor chip for interacting with at least one sample, the sensor chip comprising;

a substrate;

a one-dimensional or two-dimensional array of liquid holders or sample accommodating devices for accommodating at least one sample; and

a waveguide grating structure on the substrate, the waveguide grating structure comprising at least one waveguide grating and having a one-dimensional or two-dimensional array of waveguide grating structure units or sensor locations, wherein at least one of the waveguide grating structure units or sensor locations comprises a signal sensing pad covered at least partially by a chemofunctional signal layer and a reference sensing pad covered at least partially by a chemofunctional reference layer, wherein the sample contacts the chemofunctional signal layer and the chemofunctional reference layer in a same one of the liquid holders or sample accommodating devices, wherein a sensitivity of an effective refractive index N with respective to a perturbation effect Δ

X is the same for the signal sensing pad and the reference sensing pad, and wherein the waveguide grating structure emits at least one light field when the incident light field at least partially illuminates the waveguide grating structure;

and at least one detector device.

2. The sensor of claim 1, further comprising at least one linker layer or modified surface between:

(a) the chemofunctional signal layer and the waveguide grating structure;

(b) the chemofunctional reference layer and the waveguide grating structure;

or

(c) both.

3. The sensor of claim 1, wherein the chemofunctional reference layer is free of nonspecific binding (NSB).

4. The sensor of claim 1, wherein the perturbation effect Δ

X is a temperature fluctuation Δ

T.

5. The sensor of claim 1, further comprising a lens system located between the waveguide grating structure and the detector device to influence the light field emitted from the waveguide grating structure, wherein the lens system operates in an imaging manner or in an almost imaging manner.

6. The sensor of claim 1, wherein the signal sensing pad or the reference sensing pad or both comprise at least two waveguide gratings with a waveguide structure region between the two waveguide gratings.

7. The sensor of claim 6, wherein the signal sensing pad is covered at least partially by the chemofunctional signal layer in the waveguide structure region between the two waveguide gratings or the reference sensing pad is covered at least partially by the chemofunctional reference layer in the waveguide structure region between the two waveguide gratings or both.

8. A sensor chip for interacting with at least one sample, the sensor chip comprising:

a substrate;

a one-dimensional or two-dimensional array of liquid holders or sample accommodating devices for accommodating at least one sample; and

a waveguide grating structure on the substrate, the waveguide grating structure comprising at least one waveguide grating and having a one-dimensional or two-dimensional array of waveguide grating structure units or sensor locations,

wherein at least one of the waveguide grating structure units or sensor locations comprises a signal sensing pad and a reference sensing pad,

wherein the signal sensing pad or the reference sensing pad or both comprise at least two waveguide gratings with a waveguide structure region between the two waveguide gratings,

wherein the signal sensing pad is covered at least partially by a chemofunctional signal layer,

and wherein

either the reference sensing pad is covered at least partially by a chemofunctional reference layer, and the sample contacts the chemofunctional signal layer and the chemofunctional reference layer in a same one of the liquid holders or sample accommodating devices,

or a first sample contacts the chemofunctional signal layer in a first liquid holder or sample accommodating device, and a second sample, being the same or different from the first sample, or a liquid contacts at least partially the reference sensing pad in a second liquid holder or sample accommodating device,

wherein a sensitivity of an effective refractive index N with respect to a perturbation effect Δ

X is the same for the signal sensing pad and the reference sensing pad.

9. The sensor of claim 8, wherein the reference sensing pad corresponding to the second liquid holder or sample accommodating device is covered at least partially by a chemofunctional reference layer.

10. The sensor of claim 9, further comprising a linked layer or modified surface between the chemofunctional reference layer and the waveguide grating structure.

11. The sensor of claim 9, wherein the chemofunctional reference layer contacts at least partially the waveguide structure region between the two waveguide gratings.

12. The sensor of claim 8, further comprising at least one linker layer or modified surface between:

(a) the chemofunctional signal layer and the waveguide grating structure;

(b) the chemofunctional reference layer and the waveguide grating structure;

or(c) both.

13. The sensor of claim 8, wherein the chemofunctional signal layer or the chemofunctional reference layer or both contact at least partially the waveguide structure region between the two waveguide gratings.

14. A sensor, comprising:

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

a sensor chip for interacting with at least one sample, comprising;

a substrate;

a one-dimensional or two-dimensional array of liquid holders or sample accommodating devices for accommodating at least one sample; and

a waveguide grating structure on the substrate, the waveguide grating structure comprising at least one waveguide grating and having a one-dimensional or two-dimensional array of waveguide grating structure units or sensor locations, wherein at least one of the waveguide grating structure units or sensor locations comprises a signal sensing pad and a reference sensing pad and wherein the signal sensing pad is covered at least partially by a chemofunctional signal layer, wherein a first sample contacts the chemofunctional signal layer in a first liquid holder or sample accommodating device, and a second sample, being the same or different from the first sample, or a liquid contacts at least partially the reference sensing pad in a second liquid holder or sample accommodating device, wherein a sensitivity of an effective refractive index N with respect to a perturbation effect Δ

X is the same for the signal sensing pad and the reference sensing pad, and wherein the waveguide grating structure emits at least one light field when the incident light field at least partially illuminates the waveguide grating structure;

and at least one detector device.

15. The sensor of claim 14, wherein the signal sensing pad or the reference sensing pad or both comprise at least two waveguide gratings with a waveguide structure region between the two waveguide gratings.

16. The sensor of claim 14, wherein the reference sensing pad is covered at least partially by a chemofunctional reference layer.

17. The sensor of claim 16, further comprising a linker layer or modified surface between the chemofunctional reference layer and the waveguide grating structure.

18. The sensor of claim 14, further comprising a linker layer or modified surface between the chemofunctional signal layer and the waveguide grating structure.