Implementation and characterization of an absorption filter for on-chip fluorescent imaging

•A method for fabricating absorbance filters for on-chip imaging is proposed.•Filter fabrication relies on spinning dye-doped photopolymer on glass substrate.•It is possible to achieve sharp roll-up from stopband to passband of the filters.•Cut-off wavelength can be finely tuned by changing a single process parameter.•Demonstration of the filters for on-chip fluorescent imaging is presented.

Here we present fabrication and characterization of an absorption filter with superior roll-on properties and precisely tunable cut-off wavelengths for fluorescent imaging applications in lab-on-a-chip systems. The filters were fabricated by spinning dye doped photopolymer (Orasol Yellow in Norland Optical Adhesive 60) on glass substrates. The fabrication technique allowed us to precisely tune the cut-off wavelength of the filters. We showed that filters with different cut-off in the range of 386 nm-504 nm could be obtained simply by controlling the settling time before spinning. The filters exhibited a steep roll-on from stopband to passband at the cut-off. Transmission in the stopband was observed to be maximum 3% while it was almost constant at 100% in the passband within the range of 220 nm-620 nm. On-chip use of the filters was also demonstrated for imaging particular fluorescent beads.

Graphical abstractDownload high-res image (224KB)Download full-size image