Surface-based luminescence measurement substrate

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12540899-B2
Application number	US-202017437396-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 9, 2020
Priority date	Mar 8, 2019
Publication date	Feb 3, 2026
Grant date	Feb 3, 2026

Abstract

Surface-based measurement substrate including:
At least one optical cavity layer; a first optical mirror and a second optical mirror, the first and second optical mirrors enclosing the optical cavity layer and defining an optical cavity, the first optical mirror and the second optical mirror are attached or fixed to the optical cavity layer to sandwich the optical cavity layer between the first and second mirrors; and an interface layer or interface coating provided on the first mirror or the second mirror, the interface layer or coating being configured to receive or hold at least one entity including at least one electromagnetic radiation emitting marker.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1 . Surface-based measurement substrate comprising:
at least one optical cavity layer; a first optical mirror and a second optical mirror, the first and second optical mirrors enclosing the at least one optical cavity layer and at least partially defining an optical cavity, wherein the first optical mirror and the second optical mirror are attached and/or fixed to the at least one optical cavity layer to sandwich the at least one optical cavity layer between the first and second mirrors; and an interface layer and/or interface coating provided on the first mirror and/or the second mirror, the interface layer and/or coating being configured to receive and/or hold at least one entity comprising at least one electromagnetic radiation emitting marker; wherein the surface-based measurement substrate is configured for measurement of an electromagnetic radiation and/or signal emitted by and/or from at least one entity to be received and/or held on the surface-based measurement substrate, the at least one entity comprising the at least one electromagnetic radiation emitting marker configured to emit the electromagnetic radiation and/or signal when illuminated with excitation electromagnetic radiation having an excitation wavelength; wherein the at least one optical cavity layer is an electromagnetic radiation emitting marker-free layer and/or the optical cavity is an electromagnetic radiation emitting marker-free optical cavity, and wherein the at least one optical cavity layer defines a closed substance into which electromagnetic radiation emitting markers cannot be inserted and the optical cavity is impermeable to electromagnetic radiation emitting markers; and wherein the at least one optical cavity layer delimits a layer thickness defining at least one spectral feature and/or spectral dip in reflectance from the measurement substrate that is offset in wavelength from an emission wavelength of the at least one electromagnetic radiation emitting marker, wherein the at least one spectral feature and/or spectral dip in reflectance is indicated at a cavity resonance wavelength by an optical cavity resonance of the optical cavity, and the cavity resonance wavelength is offset in wavelength from the excitation wavelength of the excitation electromagnetic radiation that generates the electromagnetic radiation and/or signal from the at least one electromagnetic radiation emitting marker.

2 . Measurement substrate according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one optical cavity layer comprises or consists solely of a material or materials having an emission profile that is non-emitting at an emission wavelength peak and/or line of the at least one electromagnetic radiation emitting marker; and/or non-emitting at the cavity resonance wavelength.

3 . Measurement substrate according to claim 1 including the at least one entity comprising the at least one electromagnetic radiation emitting marker.

4 . Measurement substrate according to claim 3 , wherein the at least one entity is located outside of the at least one optical cavity layer.

5 . System comprising the measurement substrate according to claim 3 , and further comprising the excitation electromagnetic radiation that generates the electromagnetic radiation or signal from the at least one electromagnetic radiation emitting marker or at least one excitation electromagnetic radiation source for providing the excitation electromagnetic radiation that generates the electromagnetic radiation or signal from the at least one electromagnetic radiation emitting marker.

6 . Measurement substrate according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one entity comprises a sample or biological sample to be investigated.

7 . Measurement substrate according to claim 1 , wherein the first and the second optical mirrors have a different central design wavelength.

8 . Measurement substrate according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one optical cavity layer has a thickness and refractive index value defining the resonance at the cavity resonance wavelength and said resonance is detuned or non-detuned relative to a central wavelength of the first and/or the second optical mirrors.

9 . Measurement substrate according to claim 1 , wherein each of the first and second mirrors comprise at least one layer, and wherein a thickness of the at least one optical cavity layer is greater than or less than a thickness of any one layer of the first and second mirrors.

10 . Measurement substrate according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one optical cavity layer comprises or consists solely of an arrangement of alternating layers having a resonance wavelength outside of a reflection band of the first and second mirrors.

11 . Measurement substrate according to claim 1 , further including a tuning layer configured to tune a surface electric field of the measurement substrate, the tuning layer being located between the interface layer or coating and the first mirror or the second mirror.

12 . Measurement substrate according to claim 1 , further including at least one or a plurality of optical marks or imprints located on the interface layer and/or coating.

13 . Measurement substrate according to claim 12 , wherein the at least one optical mark comprises or consists of at least one and/or a plurality of trenches, depressions and/or indents extending into one or more of: the first mirror, the second mirror, the at least one cavity layer and a support layer.

14 . Measurement substrate according to claims 12 , wherein the at least one optical mark defines at least one graphical representation, at least one shape, at least one pattern, at least one letter, at least one number, at least one wording or any combination of these.

15 . Measurement substrate according to claims 12 , wherein the at least one optical mark defines a barcode, or alignment marks configured to guide alignment of the measurement substrate with an associated device and/or instrument.

16 . Measurement substrate according to claim 1 , wherein the thickness of the at least one optical cavity layer defines at least two optical cavity resonance spectral features or spectral dips simultaneously generated in reflectance with at least one reflectance band defined between the at least two optical cavity resonance spectral features or spectral dips, each optical cavity resonance spectral feature or spectral dip defining a reflectance profile that decreases and then increases in value with increasing wavelength value.

17 . Measurement substrate according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one optical cavity layer comprises at least one materia having a light emission wavelength that is different to an emission peak wavelength of the electromagnetic radiation or signal of the at least one electromagnetic radiation emitting marker emitted when illuminated with excitation electromagnetic radiation having the excitation wavelength.

Assignees

• Ecole Polytechnique Fed Lausanne Epfl

Inventors

• Descharmes Nicolas
• Barbey Raphaël

Classifications

• G01N2021/6469

  Cavity, e.g. ellipsoid · CPC title

• G01N2021/6417

  Spectrofluorimetric devices · CPC title

• G01N21/6454 Primary

  using an integrated detector array · CPC title

• G01N21/64 Primary

  Fluorescence; Phosphorescence · CPC title