Abstract

Nanoparticles of Semiconducting Polymer with Multimodal Biophotonics

Author(s): Tim Jason*

Modern biomedical science is increasingly reliant on the interdisciplinary frontier of biophotonics. In biophotonics, optical agents typically play a role in converting photons into other forms of energy (like heat, mechanical force, or chemical radicals) for therapeutic intervention or biological stimulation, or in interpreting biomolecular events into readable optical signals for imaging and diagnosis. This field has advanced thanks to the creation of new optical agents such metallic nanoparticles, quantum dots, up-conversion nanoparticles, carbon dots, and silica nanoparticles. But the majority of these agents have their own advantages and disadvantages, which reduces their usefulness as multimodal biophotonic platforms. The cladding material can be perfectly index-matched to an optically probed sample solution because to the special refractive index of CYTOP (n=1.34). Additionally, it is possible to create ultra-high index contrast waveguides utilising common optical polymers as the waveguide core materials, opening the door to the comprehensive integration of optical functions on a single chip. We address how this platform can be used for evanescent-wave excitation fluorescence microscopy, on-chip light generation, passive and/or thermoelectrically controlled on-chip light manipulation, and direct integration with microfluidic circuits through low temperature bonding.