Method and system for directional, enhanced fluorescence from molecular layers

Claim 3

The method according to claim 1 wherein waveguide propagation modes at the wavelength of absorption and wavelength of emission of said fluorescent emitting material are excited by light incident on said film opposite said waveguide.

Claim 4

The method according to claim 2 wherein said waveguide propagation modes at said wavelength of fluorescence couple with the molecules of said fluorescent emitting material, whereby there is enhanced radiation from said fluorescent surface.

Claim 7

The method according to claim 1 wherein said corrugated surface has aperiodic structure.

Claim 9

The method according to claim 1 wherein said corrugated surface has one or more uniform corrugation profiles in non-parallel planes.

Claim 11

The method according to claim 9 wherein said waveguide propagation modes with different directions of travel are excited by one or more sources of incident light lying in planes with respect to the surface normal which are not co-planar.

Claim 15

The method according to claim 13 wherein said incident light is from an incoherent source.

Claim 16

The method according to claim 13 wherein said incident light is from a laser.

Claim 17

The method according to claim 13 wherein the wavelength of said incident light is 515.5 nm and is provided by an Argon ion laser with intensity of about 0.1 milliwatt.

Claim 22

The method according to claim 9 wherein said fluorescence is detected by optical detectors lying in different planes with respect to the surface normal.

Claim 23

The method according to claim 21 wherein said fluorescence emitted at discrete angles is detected by optical detectors at fixed angles with respect to the normal to the corrugated surface.

Claim 24

The method according to claim 7 wherein said fluorescence emitted at discrete angles is detected by optical detectors whose angles with respect to the normal to the plane defined by the maxima of the grating may be varied, wherein said discrete angles of emission from the film's normal where said fluorescent emitting material is unknown may be determined by varying the angle of the detectors with respect to the normal.

Claim 25

A means for analyzing fluorescence from a fluorescent material, comprising (a) a film of fluorescent material adjacent to a waveguide, said waveguide having a corrugated surface which supports propagation modes for optical radiation at the wavelength of fluorescence and wavelength of absorption of said material, wherein the waveguide comprises a plurality of layers deposited on a grating, said plurality of layers including a layer of an electrically conductive, light reflective material forming said corrugated surface, a layer of a dielectric material disposed over the conductive, reflective material, and having a thickness between 20 nanometers and 500 nanometers, wherein the fluorescent emitting material is deposited on the layer of the dielectric material, and the dielectric material maintains the fluorescent emitting material spaced from the conductive, reflective material a distance of between 20 and 500 nanometers, (b) a means for exciting said propagation modes within said waveguide, (c) a means for detecting said fluorescence attributed to said propagation modes of said waveguide at their discrete angles of emission with respect to the film's normal, wherein said propagation modes excite the fluorescence of said material at discrete angles with respect to the normal to said film of said material, and the fluorescence is detected at the discrete angles by said detecting means, said fluorescence detected at said discrete angles being enhanced due to the concentration of said fluorescence at said discrete angles.

Claim 26

A means for analyzing fluorescence from a fluorescent material, comprising (a) a film of fluorescent material adjacent to a waveguide, said waveguide having a corrugated surface which supports propagation modes for optical radiation at the wavelength of fluorescence and wavelength of absorption of said material, wherein the waveguide comprises a plurality of layers deposited on a grating, said plurality of layers including a layer of an electrically conductive, light reflective material forming said corrugated surface, a layer of a dielectric material disposed over the conductive, reflective material, and having a thickness between 20 nanometers and 500 nanometers, wherein the fluorescent emitting material is deposited on the layer of the dielectric material, and the dielectric material maintains the fluorescent emitting material spaced from the conductive, reflective material a distance of between 20 and 500 nanometers, (b) a means for exciting said propagation modes within said waveguide, (c) a means for detecting said fluorescence attributed to said propagation modes of said waveguide at their discrete angles of emission with respect to the film's normal, wherein said propagation modes excite the fluorescence of said material at discrete angles with respect to the normal to said film of said material, and the fluorescence is detected at the discrete angles by said detecting means, said fluorescence detected at said discrete angles being enhanced due to the concentration of said fluorescence at said discrete angles.

Claim 27

A means for analyzing according to claim 24 wherein said grating is an interference pattern formed by a layer of developed photoresist, mounted on a substrate.

Claim 28

A means for analyzing according to claim 24 wherein said grating is plastic and formed by a stamping process.

Claim 29

A means for analyzing according to claim 25 wherein said interference pattern is created using a recombined beam of a laser.

Claim 30

A means for analyzing according to claim 24 wherein said grating has uniform thickness across parallel planes normal to the surface and normal to the corrugation profile.

Claim 31

A means for analyzing according to claim 24 wherein grating surface of said grating consists of a superimposition of a number of parallel grated surfaces oriented at different angles with respect to a normal to the surface.

Claim 32

A means for analyzing according to claim 29 wherein the parallel grated surfaces superimposed to form said grating have differing periods of corrugation.

Claim 33

A means for analyzing according to claim 24 wherein the difference between maximum and minimum points on the surface of said grating along the surface normal is on the order of 50 nm.

Claim 34

A means for analyzing according to claim 24 wherein said layer of conductive material said layer of dielectric material, and said film of said fluorescent material are deposited by vacuum deposition techniques.

Claim 35

A means for analyzing according to claim 25 wherein said photoresist is deposited on said substrate by a spin method.

Claim 36

A means for analyzing according to claim 24 wherein said conductive material is reflective at the wavelengths at which fluorescence is excited and emitted.

Claim 37

A means for analyzing according to claim 24 wherein the thickness of each said film measured along a line normal to its surface is constant.

Claim 38

A means for analyzing according to claim 24 wherein said layer of conductive mateial is disposed on said grating.

Claim 39

A means for analyzing according to claim 36 wherein said layer of dielectric material has a predetermined thickness to separate the film of fluorescent emitting material from the layer of conductive material by a selected distance to maximize the enhancement at a particular wavelength of the fluorescence detected at discrete angels.

Claim 40

A means for analyzing according to claim 35 wherein the periodicity of corrugation profile of the grating is one the order of 0.1-1.0 micrometer.

Claim 41

A means for analyzing according to claim 36 wherein said layer of dielectric material is a transparent dielectric material and said fluorescent material contains an organic material.

Claim 42

A means for analyzing according to claim 39 wherein said dielectric material is LiF.

Claim 43

A means for analyzing according to claim 39 wherein said organic material is an organic fluorescent dye.

Claim 44

A means for analyzing according to claim 36 wherein said grating consists of a photoresist with a developed interference pattern with a period of 0.636 micrometer deposited on a glass substrate; said layer of dielectric material is LiF, of 20-500 nm thickness; said fluorescent material contains Rhodamine B, and said film of said fluorescent material is on the order of 0.3 nm.