Fluorescence capture by planarwaveguide as platform for optical sensors

Abstract

A novel generic configuration for fluorescence-based optical sensors is presented. The measurand-sensitive fluorescence emitted from a dye-doped sol-gel film is captured efficiently and guided along a planar waveguide. The anisotropy of the fluorescence emission results in the angular separation of the excitation light and fluorescence emission which may eliminate the need for optical filters.