Fluorescence-Reader

A current example is the development of a fluorescence measurement device, which features dual-use in chip and microtiter plate reading. The characteristics of this reader are its variable format, an innovative beam-guiding concept as well as a CCD based detection technique. To enable the utilization of almost all commonly used dyes, the fluorescence-reader allows excitation by three different wavelengths. To that end a laser diode emitting at 638 nm as well as two diode pumped solid-state lasers (DPSS) of wavelengths 532 nm and 473 nm respectively are used. Even though the fluorescence-reader is constructed for multi-purpose, the specifications of the reader are specially adjusted for observation of protein-protein interactions and the analysis of immobilized proteins on biochips. In addition to the design of the optical components the mechanical construction and the realization of the prototype took place at the LLG. The fluorescence-reader is connected to a computer via USB interface and can be completely controlled by a custom-built software.

Further developments in this area concern the fluorescence excitation of analytes by waveguide-structures as well as methods in multi-photon-excitation. Of special interest are techniques for increasing signal intensities and sensitivity enhancement .