Color-corrected and high-contrast catadioptric relay for maskless high-resolution nucleic acid photolithography
- Author(s)
- Timm Michel, Jürgen Behr, Hamed Sabzalipoor, Glenda Gisela Ibanez Redin, Jory Lietard, Thomas Schletterer, Max Funck, Mark M. Somoza
- Abstract
Large-scale synthesis of DNA and RNA is a crucial technology for modern biological research ranging from genomics to nucleic acid therapeutics and for technological research ranging from nanofabrication of materials to molecular-level writing of digital data. Maskless array synthesis (MAS) is a versatile and efficient approach for creating the required complex microarrays and libraries of DNA and other nucleic acids for these applications and, more generally, for synthesizing sequence-defined engineered and biological oligomers. MAS uses digital photomasks displayed by a digital micromirror device (DMD) illuminated by an appropriate light source and imaged into a photochemical reaction chamber with an optical relay system. Previously, Offner relay systems were used for imaging, but modern DMD formats with more and smaller micromirrors favor a different solution. We present a desktop MAS optical system with the larger numerical aperture and larger field of view required by 1080p and other large-format DMDs. The resulting catadioptric relay is well suited to modern DMDs in this application and is corrected for first-order axial and lateral color, enabling the use of high-power LEDs as inexpensive and long-lasting light sources spanning the ultraviolet-to-violet to perform the required photochemistry. Additional system characteristics, including high contrast and low scatter, make it ideal for reducing the error rates in the photochemical synthesis of biomolecules.
- Organisation(s)
- Department of Inorganic Chemistry
- External organisation(s)
- Technische Universität München, Ingenieurbüro Thomas Schletterer, Funck Optics
- Journal
- Optics Express
- Volume
- 33
- Pages
- 17068-17084
- No. of pages
- 17
- ISSN
- 1094-4087
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1364/OE.557937
- Publication date
- 04-2025
- Peer reviewed
- Yes
- Austrian Fields of Science 2012
- 104017 Physical chemistry, 103021 Optics
- ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics
- Portal url
- https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/84c0cfeb-ff18-4a1b-9fa8-5f362715f0a9