Quartz-based photonic crystal surfaces for multiplexed cancer biomarker detection

We report for the first time the combination of a quartz-based photonic crystal (PC) with a detection instrument designed to perform label-free (LF) and enhanced fluorescence (EF) imaging for antibody microarray applications. Label-free detection is used to quantify binding density of immobilized capture antibodies. Angle-scanning approach is implemented to achieve more uniform fluorescence enhancement by reducing the coefficient of variation of replicate assays by 20-99% compared to ordinary fluorescence microscopy.