Thermal lens calorimetry for flowing samples

Accuracy of Measurements of Thermophysical Parameters by Dual-Beam Thermal-Lens Spectrometry

Thermal-lens spectrometry is a sensitive technique for determination of physicochemical properties and thermophysical parameters of various materials including heterogeneous systems and nanoparticles. In this paper, we consider the issues of the correctness (trueness) of measurements of the characteristic time of the thermal-lens effect and, thus, of the thermal diffusivity determined by dual-beam mode-mismatching thermal lensing. As sources of systematic errors, major factors-radiation sources, sample-cell and detector parameters, and general measurement parameters-are considered using several configurations of the thermal-lens setups, and their contributions are quantified or estimated. Furthermore, with aqueous ferroin and Sudan I in ethanol as inert colorants, the effects of the intermolecular distance of the absorbing substance on the correctness of finding the thermophysical parameters are considered. The recommendations for checking the operation of the thermal-lens setup to ensure the maximum accuracy are given. The results obtained help reducing the impact of each investigated factor on the value of systematic error and correctly measure the thermophysical parameters using thermal-lens spectrometry.

Thermal lens detection device

A thermal lens detection device was developed to realize an easy-to-use, portable and sensitive detector for nonfluorescent molecules. Two laser diodes (658 nm for excitation and 785 nm for probe) were made coaxial in an optical unit and were coupled to a single-mode optical fiber. On a microfluidic chip, a small holder for the optical fiber was fixed, and micro-lenses (numerical aperture of 0.2) were also integrated inside the holder. The micro-lenses were designed to realize an adequate chromatic aberration (50 μm), which was essential for sensitive thermal lens detection. Compared with conventional thermal lens detection systems which required very laborious and accurate optical alignment with the microchannel, the new device needed just attachment-detachment of the optical fiber, which was important for practical application. The lower limit of detection was 10 nM for nickel(II) phthalocyaninetetrasulfonic acid tetrasodium salt solutions (model sample), and the absorbance was 9 × 10(-6) AU. The absolute number of molecules detected was less than 200 zmol. The coefficient of variance for 5-time attachment-detachment of the optical probe was as small as 3.6%. The technical development allowed integration of the thermal lens detection devices inside a microsystem (e.g. enzyme-linked immuno-sorbent assay system), and practical microsystems were realized with sensitivities several-orders higher than absorptiometry.

Development of a differential interference contrast thermal lens microscope for sensitive individual nanoparticle detection in liquid

A thermal lens microscope (TLM) with a new principle was developed to improve the detection limit of conventional TLM. The detection limit was decreased by introducing a differential interference contrast (DIC) method which realizes background-free photodetection. The new differential interference contrast thermal lens microscope (DIC-TLM) exploits phase contrast resulting from a photothermal effect instead of refraction used in conventional TLM. In order to produce high phase contrast, we fabricated a pair of DIC prisms with a large shear value of 5 microm which is in accordance with the thermal diffusion length. First, we verified the principle of DIC-TLM. The background of TLM measurement was reduced to 1/100 by differential interference, and the signal-to-background (S/B) ratio was improved by 1 order of magnitude. The signal was confirmed to originate from phase contrast, and the expansion of the shear value was effective. Furthermore, we demonstrated counting of individual gold nanoparticles (5 nm) using DIC-TLM. The particles were counted with high signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio, and the S/N ratio was improved by 1 order of magnitude. Finally, we discuss the possibility of single molecule counting in a liquid.

Individual nanoparticle detection in liquids by thermal lens microscopy and improvement of detection efficiency using a 1-microm microfluidic channel

Nanoparticles are a key material in nanoscience and nanotechnology due to their unique physicochemical properties, so an analytical method is increasingly required. In the present research, we developed a method for individual nanoparticle detection by thermal lens microscopy and microfluidic chips. Pulsed signals were clearly observed, as nanoparticles were passing through the detection volume. The scale of the microfluidic channel was reduced from 100 to 1 microm to improve the detection efficiency. As a result, a detection efficiency of 100% was demonstrated.

Thermooptical detection in microchips: from macro- to micro-scale with enhanced analytical parameters

In this paper, we compared the methods of photothermal spectroscopy used in different spatial scales, namely thermal-lens spectrometry (TLS) and thermal-lens microscopy (TLM) to enhance the performance parameters in analytical procedures. All of the experimental results were confirmed by theoretical calculation. It was proven that the design for both TLM and TLS, despite a different scale for the effect, is governed by the same signal-generating and probing conditions (probe beam diameter at the sample should be equal to the diameter of the blooming thermal lens), and almost does not depend on the nature of the solvent. Theoretical and experimental instrumental error curves for thermal lensing were coincident. TLM obeys the same law of instrumental error as TLS and shows better repeatability for the same levels of thermal-lens signals or absorbances. TLS is more advantageous for studying low concentrations in bulk, while TLM shows much lower absolute LODs due to better repeatability for low amounts. The behavior of the thermal-lens signal with different flow rates was studied and optimum conditions, with the minimum contribution to total error, were found. These conditions are reproducible, are in agreement with the existing theory of the thermal response in thermal lensing, and do not significantly affect the design of the optimum scheme for setups. TLM showed low LODs in solvent extraction (down to 10(-8) M) and electrokinetic separation (10(-7) M), which were shown to be governed by discussed instrumental regularities, instead of by microchemistry.

In situ microfluidic flow rate measurement based on near-field heterodyne grating method

The near-field heterodyne grating (NF-HDG) method was applied to flow rate measurements in a microtube. The NF-HDG method is a newly developed optical technique based on photothermal effects. In this technique, pump light is shone on a transmission grating in front of a fluid channel and the inside liquid is heated with a pattern of the grating due to the Talbot effect. Another probe light is similarly shone on the same place as the pump light, and the diffraction by the transmission grating (reference) and the diffraction by the temporally generated thermal grating inside the fluid channel (signal) are mixed and detected (heterodyne detection). Theoretical analysis reveals that the dependence of the heterodyne signal intensity on the flow rate originates from the change in the heterodyne phase difference between the signal and reference, and the experimentally obtained calibration curves can be fitted with the theoretically predicted function. Furthermore, the optical setup was optimized based on the theoretical analysis of the Talbot effect. Flow rates of the order of nl/min were quantitatively measured, and the detection limit of the flow rate was 17 nl/min.

Flow Velocity Detector in a Microchip Based on a Photothermally Induced Grating

A new photothermal technique was developed for measuring the flow velocity and making solute concentration measurements in a microchip by using the same optical and instrumental setup. Collinear pump and probe light were irradiated onto a microchip surface on which a grating pattern was fabricated. The pump light induced a temperature change with the grating pattern in a microchannel, and a refractive index change due to a subsequent temperature rise was monitored by a heterodyned diffraction signal of the probe light. The flow velocity and concentration were obtained by monitoring the motion and intensity change of the thermally induced grating, respectively. The dynamic range of the flow velocity measurement was 0.17 - 670 mm/s, which is sufficient for covering most chemical applications of a microchip. The detection limit of the concentration measurement was 2 x 10(-6) M for a rhodamine B solution.

Quantitative detection and fixation of single and multiple gold nanoparticles on a microfluidic chip by thermal lens microscope

A detection and fixation method of single and multiple gold nanoparticles on the wall of a microfluidic channel is demonstrated. A thermal lens microscope (TLM) with continuous-wave excitation (wavelength, 532 nm) and probe (wavelength, 670 nm) laser beams was used to realize the sensitive detection of heat generated by light absorption of individual gold nanoparticles (50 nm in diameter); fixation of the individual nanoparticles was realized simultaneously. The fixation mechanism was investigated and attributed to an absorption-based optical force. In addition to single nanoparticle detection, multiple-nanoparticle detection and fixation was demonstrated. An acceleration of fixation was observed when the number of fixed particles was increased. TLM is expected to be a powerful tool for both the quantitative detection and precise fixation of individual nanoparticles.

Reflective thermal lens detection device

A reflective thermal lens detection device was developed for realizing a portable and sensitive detector for a microsystem. An aluminum mirror was formed on the main plate of a microchip, and a reflected probe beam was detected with a single pick-up unit. The background signal due to light absorption of the aluminum mirror was 60 times reduced when the microchannel and the mirror were separated with an interval of 600 microm. The tilt angle of the microchip significantly affected the precision of the measurement. Then a quadrant photodiode was used to detect the center of gravity of the reflected probe beam to regulate the tilt angle within +/-0.05 degrees , and this value was enough to achieve 1% CV (coefficient of variance) precision in the measurements. The limit of detection (LOD) was 60 nM for xylene cyanol solution, and the absorbance was 9.4 x 10(-6) AU. About 40 times higher sensitivity was obtained in comparison with a spectrophotometer.

Optimization of instrumental parameters of a near-field thermal-lens detector for capillary electrophoresis

The optical scheme of a near-field dual-beam mode-mismatched thermal-lens detector for capillary electrophoresis with a crossed-beam configuration employing a multimode HeCd laser (325 nm) as an excitation source was optimized. It is shown that a multimode laser can be successfully used as an excitation source in thermal lensing with minimal deviations in thermal responses from Gaussian excitation sources. An equation for diffraction thermal-lens theory for near-field measurements is deduced, and the experimental results agree with the deduced equation. The temperature rise in the capillary was estimated, and the exponential decrease of the signal with time for static conditions and low flow velocities was explained. The optimum configuration of the detector from the viewpoint of the maximum sensitivity and beam sizes was found. The detector provides a significant improvement in the detection limits for model compounds absorbing at 325 nm (nitrophenols) compared to the results obtained with a commercial absorbance detector operating at the same wavelength.

Signal optimisation in cw-laser crossed-beam photothermal spectrometry: influence of the chopping frequency, sample size and flow rate

Optimisation of the optical design for cw-laser crossed-beam thermal lens spectrometry in infinite and finite samples has been investigated using different excitation beam waists and various lens combinations. The characteristics of the photothermal signal depending on the position of the sample with respect to the probe beam waist, the chopping frequency, the sample size and the flow rate have been considered. Depending on the irradiation duration, the size of the thermal element at the measurement time can be much greater than the waist of the excitation beam. As a result, the optimum sample position is closely related to the probe beam to thermal element size ratio and therefore depends on the chopping frequency and of the sample size. At low frequencies, the size of the thermal element is almost independent of the degree of focusing of the excitation beam because a smaller beam waist induces a faster thermal expansion. As a result, the amplitude of the optimum signal does not depend on the waist of the excitation beam. In contrast, at high frequency, the size of the thermal element remains closer to the size of the excitation beam and the signal is inversely proportional to the waist of the excitation beam as previously demonstrated under pulsed-laser excitation. Moreover, at moderate flow velocities, the signal is significantly enhanced because the negative effect produced by the displacement of the thermal element across the probe beam axis is more than compensated by a decrease of the effective thermal time constant due to radial mixing.