Integrated diode detector and optical fibres for in situ detection within micromachined polymerase chain reaction chips

This paper reports on the design, fabrication, assembly and testing of a micromachined polymerase chain reaction (PCR) system with pigtailed fibre optics. Two major designs have been fabricated and tested. The first design uses two optical fibres, one for the projection of light into the chamber and the other for the collection of the light emitted by a fluorescent dye in the reaction chamber. The second design employs a single optical fibre for the delivery of light into the PCR chamber, with light now being detected using a photodiode integrated into the base and walls of the reaction chamber within the PCR chip. Tests carried out on both systems have produced promising results.