The autofluorescence of plastic materials and chips measured under laser irradiation.
Plastic materials have the potential to substitute for glass substrates used in microfluidic and microTAS systems adding flexibility in materials' choices. Optical quality plastic materials with a low autofluorescence are crucial for optimal detection by fluorescence and laser induced fluorescence techniques. This paper summarizes a series of optical investigations on commercially available plastic chip materials (PMMA, COC, PC, PDMS) and chips made from those materials. Intrinsic optical constants of plastic materials-refractive index for bulk materials-determined by spectroscopic ellipsometry and transmission spectroscopy in the visible range are presented. The laser-induced autofluorescence of materials and chips was assessed at four laser wavelengths, namely, 403, 488, 532 and 633 nm. Considerable bleaching of the autofluorescence was observed under continuous laser illumination. Overall, the longer wavelength laser excitation sources yielded less autofluorescence. PDMS exhibited the least autofluorescence and was comparable to BoroFloat glass. In all cases, chips exhibited slightly higher autofluorescence than the raw plastic materials from which they had been made.
Piruska
Aigars
A
Department of Chemistry, University of Cincinnati, PO Box 210172, Cincinnati, OH 45221, USA.
Nikcevic
Irena
I
Lee
Se Hwan
SH
Ahn
Chong
C
Heineman
William R
WR
Limbach
Patrick A
PA
Seliskar
Carl J
CJ
D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D007834:Lasers; D008422:Materials Testing / Q000379:methods*; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques; D010969:Plastics / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000528:radiation effects; D013050:Spectrometry, Fluorescence / Q000379:methods*
D010969:Plastics