Photonic crystal enhanced fluorescence using a quartz substrate to reduce limits of detection

A Photonic Crystal surface fabricated upon a quartz substrate using nanoimprint lithography has been demonstrated with a signal enhancement factor as high as 7500x for the detection of LD-700 dye spin-coated upon the PC. The detection of spotted Alexa-647 labeled polypeptide on the PC exhibits a 330x SNR improvement. Using dose-response characterization of deposited fluorophore-tagged protein spots, the PCEF surface demonstrated a 140x lower limit of detection compared to a conventional glass substrate.