Surface plasmon resonance phase-shift interferometry: real-time DNA microarray hybridization analysis

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) phase-shift interferometry (PSI) is a novel technique which combines SPR and modified Mach-Zehnder PSI to measure the spatial phase variation caused by biomolecular interactions upon a sensing chip. The SPR-PSI imaging system offers high resolution and high-throughout screening capabilities for microarray DNA hybridization without the need for additional labeling, and provides valuable quantitative information. The SPR-PSI imaging system has an enhanced detection limit of 2.5 x 10(-7) refraction index change, a long-term phase stability of pi/100 in 30 min, and a spatial phase resolution of pi/300 with 100 x 100 microm2 detection area. This study successfully demonstrates the label-free observation of 15-mer DNA microarray.