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US 7,170,050 B2Granted
Apparatus and methods for optical analysis of molecules
AssigneePacific Biosciences of California, Inc.
InventorsStephen Turner, Jonas Korlach
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Abstract
The present invention relates to optical confinements, methods of preparing and methods of using them for analyzing molecules and/or monitoring chemical reactions. The apparatus and methods embodied in the present invention are particularly useful for high-throughout and low-cost single-molecular analysis.
Claims20
A substrate comprising:
- an array of a plurality of optical confinements, wherein each of the plurality of optical confinements comprises a core disposed within a cladding layer that is configured to preclude propagation of electromagnetic radiation through the core, and wherein each core is structured to receive reactants;
- and
- wherein the plurality of optical confinements having a density of greater than 4×104 confinements per mm2 are aligned upon the substrate in at least a first row or a first column, wherein said first row or said first column is aligned along at least a first axis of the substrate.
An optical system, comprising:
- a substrate comprising:
- an array of a plurality of optical confinements, wherein each of the plurality of optical confinements comprises a core disposed within a cladding layer that is configured to preclude propagation of electromagnetic radiation through the core, and wherein each core is structured to receive reactants;
- and
- wherein the plurality of optical confinements are aligned upon the substrate in at least a first row or column that is aligned along at least a first axis of the substrate;
- an excitation light source positioned to direct excitation light at the array of optical confinements;
- and
- a charge coupled device (CCD) positioned to detect emitted signals from the array of optical confinements.
4 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.