An interferometric testbed for protein-microarray spot metrology
Designing the optical system and all of the software for a white-light interferometry testbed that maps the thickness and uniformity of protein-array spotting — optical-path-difference mapping with motion control and automated reporting.
Customer
An early-stage instrumentation startup developing protein-microarray products, who needed to understand the quality of the spotting on their wafers — specifically the thickness and uniformity of each deposited spot.
Challenge
The team needed an investigatory tool to characterize spotting quality so they could assess the feasibility of their nascent protein-array business — and no off-the-shelf instrument gave them the optical-path-difference measurement they were after.
Solution
We designed the optical system and wrote all of the software from scratch.
- .NET control software with motion control across the sample.
- White-light interferometry acquisition and analysis, mapping optical path difference across the array to resolve spot thickness and uniformity.
- Automated report generation from the analysis results.
The testbed was used for years to evaluate spotting quality and the feasibility of the client's protein-array program.