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Lensless Fluorescent Microscopy on a Chip

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Ultrasensitive interferometric on-chip microscopy of transparent objects.

Roland A Terborg¹, Josselin Pello¹, Ilaria Mannelli¹

¹ICFO-Institut de Ciències Fotòniques, The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, 08860 Castelldefels (Barcelona), Spain.

Science Advances

|July 8, 2016

Summary

This study introduces an on-chip microscope using birefringence for sensitive detection of transparent objects. It achieves high axial sensitivity for applications like biomarker detection and surface analysis.

Keywords:

digital interference contrast microscopy high-throughput biodetection interferometry lens-free imaging on-chip sensing

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Area of Science:

Optical microscopy
Biophysics
Nanotechnology

Background:

Conventional light microscopy struggles with transparent objects due to weak scattering, absorption, and reflection.
Interference effects are crucial for detecting subtle refractive index variations and phase shifts in transparent materials.

Purpose of the Study:

To propose and demonstrate an on-chip microscope design exploiting birefringence for enhanced detection of transparent objects.
To achieve high axial sensitivity for examining nanometer-scale variations and applications like biomarker detection.

Main Methods:

Developed an on-chip microscope utilizing two sheared, quasi-overlapped illuminating beams with relative phase shifts.
Employed a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor array to capture interference patterns.
Implemented a novel phase-shifting interferometric operation for high axial sensitivity.

Main Results:

The microscope design provides a large field of view (20 mm²) and detection volume (>0.5 cm³).
Achieved high axial sensitivity (<1 nm) for detecting nanometer-thick surface modulations on glass.
Successfully detected single and double protein layers, demonstrating its utility for biomarker analysis.

Conclusions:

The proposed on-chip birefringence microscope offers a sensitive method for analyzing transparent substrates and microarrays.
Its large field of view and high axial sensitivity make it suitable for various biological and material science applications.
This design overcomes limitations of conventional microscopy for transparent sample analysis.