JP2017015629A - Light-guiding member, light-leading member, and light-leading method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a light-guiding member for microchip which enables incident light to be folded at 90 degrees by critical reflection using a silicone resin having a refractive index of lower than 1.45 as a constituent material.SOLUTION: There is provided a light-guiding member which has a light leading section 11 for leading out light to the outside, has a first gas optical path section 13 that is a light-guiding member being a plate-like body mainly formed of a silicone resin and has an optical path filled with gas, a first inclined surface forming an end of the first gas optical path section while being inclined with respect to a first optical axis being an optical axis 19 of the first gas optical path section by a first angle, and a second inclined surface that is inclined with respect to the first optical axis by a second angle, where the first angle is an angle in which light reaching the second inclined surface out of first refracted light that advances in the first optical axis and is refracted on the first inclined surface exists, and the second angle is an angle in which light is critically reflected by the second inclined surface out of the first refracted light reaching the second inclined surface exists.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

  The present invention relates to a light guide member, a light guide member, and a light guide method, and more particularly to a plate-like light guide member mainly including a silicone resin that includes a light guide part that guides light to the outside.

  In recent years, separation, synthesis, and extraction of trace amounts of reagents using a microreactor consisting of microchips, in which microscale analysis channels are formed on a small substrate made of, for example, silicon, silicone, glass, etc. Attention has been focused on methods for performing analysis and the like. A reaction analysis system using such a microreactor is called a micro total analysis system (hereinafter referred to as “μTAS”). According to μTAS, since the ratio of the surface area to the volume of the reagent is increased, it becomes possible to perform reaction analysis with high speed and high accuracy, and to realize a compact and automated system.

  The microchip has a region having various functions such as a reaction region in which a reagent is arranged in a flow channel 10 also called a microchannel provided in the microchip, a fluid control element (micropump, microvalve, micromixer, filter, sensor). By providing and integrating, it is possible to adapt to various uses.

  The above-described microchip typically has a structure in which a pair of microchip substrates are bonded to face each other, and a fine flow path 10 (for example, a width of 10 to several hundred μm is formed on the surface of at least one of the microchip substrates. , A depth of about 10 to several 100 μm).

  Typical applications of microchips include chemical analysis such as genetic analysis, clinical diagnosis, and drug screening, biochemistry, pharmacy, medicine, veterinary analysis, compound synthesis, and environmental measurement.

  In such a microchip, various chemical operations such as solution mixing, reaction, separation, purification, and detection can be performed. Then, by incorporating the microchip into the analytical instrument, the reaction performed on the microchip is detected by the analytical instrument. For example, when a microchip is used as a fluorescence sensor, the analytical instrument receives a light source composed of, for example, a laser that emits monochromatic light, and receives fluorescence emitted from a sample in a microchip channel irradiated with light from the light source. A light receiving element or the like. That is, various analyzes are performed by incorporating a microchip into a dedicated analysis machine according to the analysis content. An example of the analytical instrument described above is an optical analyzer proposed by the inventors (Patent Document 1).

  FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of the optical analyzer 101 described above. This optical analyzer 101 includes a display 103 and a so-called tablet terminal 105 having a control unit that controls an image displayed on the display 103 and an arithmetic function, a microchip 111 having a light introducing unit 107 and a light deriving unit 109, and Consists of. In the optical analyzer 101, the light introducing unit 107 of the microchip 111 is disposed at a predetermined position on the display 103. The control unit causes the part on the display 103 corresponding to the light introducing unit 107 to emit light. The light emitted from the light introduction unit 107 into the microchip 111 is irradiated to a fluid containing the specimen introduced into the flow path 113 of the microchip 111. Then, light (for example, fluorescence) emitted from the fluid including the specimen irradiated with light is led out from the light deriving unit 109 of the microchip. The light derived to the outside is received by, for example, the camera of the tablet terminal 105, and the tablet terminal 105 performs arithmetic processing according to a predetermined analysis program based on the received light information. Hereinafter, such an optical analyzer is also referred to as LOT (Labo on Tablet).

The microchip 111 into which light is introduced into the light leading out from the microchip is usually made of a silicone resin having good light transmission properties such as PDMS. In the case of LOT, it is assumed that the microchip 111 is installed on the surface of the tablet terminal 105. Therefore, the shape of the microchip 111 for analysis in the LOT is a plate shape, and at least the lower surface side of the surface of the microchip 111 in close contact with the LOT surface is a horizontal plane. Hereinafter, the lower surface side of the surface of the microchip 111 is referred to as a “lower surface 112”.

  When the shape of the microchip 111 is a plate shape, the light guide 115 that guides the light irradiated to the flow path 113 and the sample (specimen) in the flow path 113 has a sample injection portion 117 that communicates with the flow path 113. Except for the sample discharge unit 118, the light introduction unit 107 that introduces light into the light guide 115, and the light derivation unit 109 that emits light from the light guide 115 to the outside, the sample extends in a direction parallel to the lower surface of the microchip 111. Configured as follows.

  The light introduced into the light introduction part 107 of the microchip 111 is introduced from a predetermined incident angle direction with respect to the lower surface of the microchip 111. For example, when the light emitted from the display 103 is introduced into the light introducing portion 107 of the microchip 111 as in the case of FIG. 1, the introduced light is introduced from a direction perpendicular to the lower surface 112. (See FIG. 2 (a)). In addition, the arrow in FIG. 2 shows the advancing direction of light.

On the other hand, the light derived from the light lead-out portion 109 ₁ of the microchip 111 is also derived for the lower side surface of the microchip 111 from a predetermined output angle direction. For example, when guiding the light derived from the light lead-out portion 109 ₁ to the camera 119 provided on the tablet device 105, the derivation light is derived in a direction perpendicular to the lower surface 112 (FIG. 2 (See (a)).

Note that it is also possible to derive light from the microchip 111 in a direction parallel to the lower surface 112 of the microchip 111 (that is, the direction in which the light guide 115 inside the microchip 111 extends). However, in this case, the light is derived from the light lead-out portion 109 ₂ provided on the side surface of the plate-like microchip 111. Therefore, in order to guide the derived light to the camera 119 of the tablet terminal 105, a light guide device 121 such as an optical fiber is required, and the configuration becomes large (see FIG. 2B). Note that the structure of FIG. 2B is not known at the time of filing this application.

  As shown in FIG. 2A, when the position of the light extraction unit 109 of the microchip 111 is made to correspond to the position of the light incident unit of the camera 119 of the tablet terminal 105, light is derived from the lower surface 112 of the microchip 111. With this configuration, it is possible to guide the light derived from the light deriving unit 109 to the light incident unit of the camera 119 without using the light guiding device 121 such as an optical fiber. In that case, it is preferable that light traveling along the light guide path 115 in a direction in which the light guide path 115 extends is folded back to the light deriving unit 109 side (90 degrees) and led to the outside. With such a configuration, the optical path can be made the shortest distance.

JP, 2014-163818, A Japanese Patent No. 5152901

However, in the microchip 111 composed of a synthetic resin such as silicone resin, the light guide path inside the microchip is in the horizontal direction (the direction parallel to the lower surface of the microchip, that is, the direction in which the light guide path extends). In order to turn the traveling light 90 degrees, it is necessary to provide the microchip 111 with the following structure.
(1) A total reflection surface on which light traveling in the horizontal direction in the microchip 111 is totally reflected at an angle of 45 degrees is provided on the microchip 111 (hereinafter referred to as [Structure 1]).
(2) A hole for critically reflecting the traveling light at an angle of 45 degrees is provided in the microchip 111 (hereinafter referred to as [Structure 2]).
Hereinafter, a configuration example of [Structure 1] and [Structure 2] will be described in detail. Structures such as Structure 1 and Structure 2 exemplified below with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 are structures that are not known at the time of filing this application.

[Structure 1]
An example of the structure 1 is shown in FIG. In the structure 1 shown in the figure, the light guide of the microchip 121 is made of a reflector 125 made of a material such as a metal inclined by 45 degrees with respect to the optical axis 123 of the light traveling in the horizontal direction in the light guide path 122 inside the microchip 121. It is a structure in which a 45-degree total reflection surface is constructed by being embedded in the portion 127. Although illustration is omitted, an inclined surface inclined by 45 degrees with respect to the optical axis 123 of the light traveling through the light guide path 122 is provided in the light guide portion 127 of the microchip, and a metal material is vapor-deposited on the inclined surface. May be.
According to the structure 1 shown in FIG. 3, the light traveling in the horizontal direction in the light guide path 122 inside the microchip 121 incident on the reflector 125 inclined as described above can be turned back by 90 degrees. .

  However, in the above configuration example of the structure 1, it is necessary to embed the reflection plate 125 made of a material such as metal in the microchip 121, and the manufacturing process of the microchip 121 becomes complicated. In the case of depositing a metal material, in manufacturing the microchip 121, a step of forming an inclined surface on the microchip 121 and a step of depositing a metal material on the inclined surface are required. Becomes complicated.

[Structure 2]
An example of the structure 2 is shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the structure 2 has a light guide hole having an inclined surface for performing 45-degree critical reflection when light traveling in the horizontal direction enters the light guide path 130 inside the microchip 129. 131 is provided in the light lead-out portion 133 of the microchip 129.
In general, the refractive index of the silicone resin constituting the microchip 129 is larger than the refractive index of the atmosphere. By utilizing this characteristic, in the structure 2, the light guide hole 131 of the microchip 129 made of silicone resin is provided with a slope 135 having an interface with the atmosphere. When the light enters the bottom surface of the light guide hole 131 that forms the inclined surface 135 at an incident angle greater than the critical angle of the microchip 129 (silicone resin) with respect to the atmosphere, the light is totally reflected by the inclined surface 135.

  Here, the angle of the inclined surface 135 is set so that the incident angle when the light traveling in the horizontal direction is incident on the inclined surface 135 is a critical angle at which the inclined surface 135 performs 45-degree critical reflection with respect to the optical axis 136. If set, the light traveling in the horizontal direction in the light guide 130 inside the microchip 129 is folded back 90 degrees by the inclined surface.

In order to turn back the light traveling in the horizontal direction through the light guide path 90 degrees using the critical reflection condition, the refractive index of the silicone resin needs to be 1.45 or more.
For example, when the refractive index of the silicone resin is 1.45 and the refractive index of the atmosphere is 1.0, the critical angle θc causing the critical reflection is θc = arcsin (1.45 / 1) = about 0.761 (rad ), Which is about 43.6 degrees. That is, if the spread of light that travels in the horizontal direction from the image surface 137 (for example, the light emission surface of the fluorescence emitted from the sample in the flow path) and enters the inclined surface is ± 1.4 degrees, this light is critical. reflect.

However, in such a configuration, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) cannot be used as the silicone resin. PDMS is a material capable of forming a microstructure by an imprint method, and can be transferred to a submicron structure. Further, it is colorless and transparent, has little absorption in the visible light region, and hardly shows autofluorescence. Furthermore, since it is a biocompatible material and does not adversely affect cells and tissues, it is also used in, for example, a microchip for light detection used in the bio field.
The refractive index of this PDMS is about 1.41, and the critical angle is about 0.788 (rad) = about 45.2 degrees, which exceeds 45 degrees. For this reason, the light traveling in the horizontal direction in the light guide path 130 cannot be folded back 90 degrees using the critical reflection condition.

  On the other hand, few silicone resin materials having a refractive index of 1.45 or more have the same characteristics as PDMS, and are expensive. For example, phenyl rubber (manufactured by Shin-Etsu Silicone Co., Ltd .: KER-6000), which is an LED sealing material, is obtained by replacing the methyl group of a silicone resin with a phenyl group, and has a refractive index of around 1.50. However, it is expensive as the phenyl group is added.

  Accordingly, the present invention mainly uses a light-sensitive member such as PDMS which is not expensive and has a refractive index of less than 1.45 as a constituent material, and allows light to be turned 90 degrees by critical reflection. The purpose is to provide.

  A first aspect of the present invention is a plate-shaped light guide member that is mainly composed of a silicone resin and includes a light guide portion that guides light to the outside. The first gas optical path is filled with a gas. A first inclined surface that is inclined by a first angle with respect to a first optical axis that is an optical axis of the first gas optical path part, and forms an end of the first gas optical path part, and with respect to the first optical axis A second inclined surface inclined by a second angle, and the first angle is a light that travels along the first optical axis and reaches the second inclined surface among the first refracted light refracted by the first inclined surface. The second angle is a light guide member that is an angle at which light that is critically reflected by the second inclined surface among the first refracted light that reaches the second inclined surface is present.

  A second aspect of the present invention is the light guide member according to the first aspect, further comprising a second gas optical path portion in which an optical path is filled with gas, separately from the first gas optical path portion, The second inclined surface forms an end of the second gas optical path portion, and the second angle travels along the second optical axis that is the optical axis of the second gas optical path portion and is refracted by the second inclined surface. Of the refracted light, there is an angle at which light reaching the first slope is present, and the first angle is the light that is critically reflected by the first slope among the second refracted light that reaches the first slope. An existing angle.

  A third aspect of the present invention is the light guide member according to the second aspect, wherein the optical path between the first inclined surface and the second inclined surface is filled with PDMS, and the first optical axis is 51.0 with respect to an angle α (0 ° ≦ α ≦ 90 °) formed by the first inclined surface and an angle β (0 ° ≦ β ≦ 90 °) formed by the second inclined surface with respect to the second optical axis. ° ≦ α ≦ 55.55 °, and 51.0 ° ≦ β ≦ 55.55 °.

  A fourth aspect of the present invention is the light guide member according to the third aspect, wherein 51.17 ° ≦ α ≦ 52.5 ° and 51.17 ° ≦ β ≦ 52.5 °. .

  A fifth aspect of the present invention is the light guide member according to the third or fourth aspect, wherein the first optical axis and the second optical axis are parallel or coincide with each other, and the value of α The value of β is equal.

  A sixth aspect of the present invention is the light guide member according to any one of the second to fifth aspects, wherein the first gas optical path portion, the first slope, the second gas optical path portion, and the second slope. As a combination corresponding to, one or more combinations of the (2n-1) gas optical path part, the (2n-1) slope, the second n gas optical path part, and the second n slope are provided for a natural number n of 2 or more. .

  A seventh aspect of the present invention is a light deriving member for deriving incident light to the outside. The light deriving member includes a cone shape or a three-dimensional shape obtained by cutting a part of the cone, and the three-dimensional shape includes a side surface and a bottom surface. The three-dimensional shape is filled with PDMS, and the elevation angle of the side surface with respect to the bottom surface is 51.0 ° or more and 55.55 ° or less.

  An eighth aspect of the present invention is a light derivation method using a plate-shaped light guide member mainly made of silicone resin, wherein the light guide member has a first gas optical path whose optical path is filled with gas. A first inclined surface that is inclined by a first angle with respect to a first optical axis that is an optical axis of the first gas optical path part, and forms an end of the first gas optical path part, and with respect to the first optical axis A second inclined surface inclined by a second angle, and the first angle is a light that travels along the first optical axis and reaches the second inclined surface among the first refracted light refracted by the first inclined surface. And the second angle is an angle at which light that is critically reflected by the second slope among the first refracted light that reaches the second slope is present, and with respect to the first slope. A light derivation method including an incident step of causing light to enter along the first optical axis.

  According to each aspect of the present invention, since the incident light is refracted on the first slope and then reflected on the second slope, the condition of critical reflection is relaxed. For this reason, it becomes easy to derive the light traveling in the optical axis direction inside the light guide member of the plate-like body to the outside.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to change the traveling direction of light traveling in two directions inside the light guide member of the plate-like body without increasing the number of members as compared with the first aspect. Can be derived.

  According to the third or seventh aspect of the present invention, by using inexpensive PDMS as a constituent material of the light guide member, the refractive surface and the critical reflection surface are effectively functioned, or the traveling direction of the reflected light is the optical axis. It becomes easy to set it as the direction close | similar to 90 degrees with respect to this.

  Here, even when the refractive index of the silicone resin is 1.45 or more as in the case of using expensive phenyl rubber, there are the following problems.

  FIG. 5 shows an angle (hereinafter referred to as “field of view”) formed by the traveling direction of light emitted from the image plane 137 and the optical axis 136 when the refractive index of the silicone resin that is the material of the microchip 129 in FIG. It is a diagram showing the relationship between the angle and the possibility of critical reflection on the slope 135. As a result of the calculation, as shown in FIG. 5A, when the viewing angle is ± 2 degrees, the light is folded back 90 degrees by critical reflection. On the other hand, when the viewing angle is ± 3 degrees, as shown in FIG. 5B, a part of the light is not critically reflected and leaves the silicone resin to the outside.

  As described above, in order to turn the light traveling through the light guide path 130 by 90 degrees using the critical reflection action, it is necessary to employ a silicone resin having a refractive index of 1.45 or more. I can't get enough. Even if the refractive index of the silicone resin is 1.5, the permissible viewing angle is ± 4 degrees. That is, when turning the light 90 degrees using the critical reflection action as described above, the viewing angle cannot be made sufficiently large, and thus the light emitted from the sample in the microchip 129 may not always be sufficiently detected. End up.

  Therefore, according to the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide a light guide member having a large viewing angle of ± 9 degrees, for example. Therefore, the amount of light to be derived is increased as compared with the case of using a light guide member with a narrow viewing angle, and for example, it becomes easy for an external camera to capture a bright and clear image. In addition, the light incident along the optical axis can be reflected almost at right angles. Furthermore, it becomes easy to make the refracting surface and the critical reflecting surface function effectively and to make the traveling direction of the reflected light a direction close to 90 ° with respect to the optical axis.

  Furthermore, according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the structure of the light guide part is simple and highly symmetric, and the production of the light guide part is facilitated.

It is a figure which shows an example of the conventional optical analyzer which the inventors of this invention developed. It is a figure which shows the structural example at the time of guide | inducing light to a tablet terminal in the optical analyzer of FIG. It is a figure which shows the structural example in the case of totally reflecting light using a metal reflecting plate. It is a figure which shows the structural example in the case of reflecting light with the structure of a silicone resin and a light guide hole. It is a figure which shows the relationship between a viewing angle and the possibility of critical reflection when using phenyl rubber. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a light derivation unit according to Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the relationship between a viewing angle and the possibility of critical reflection in Example 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the relationship between an elevation angle and the advancing direction of reflected light. It is a figure which shows the concept which derives | leads-out the light from two directions using the light derivation | leading-out part which concerns on Example 2. FIG. It is a figure which illustrates the light derivation | leading-out part which can derive | lead-out the light from 4 directions. It is a figure which illustrates the light derivation | leading-out part which can derive | lead-out the light from 8 directions.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The embodiments of the present invention are not limited to the following examples.

  FIG. 6 shows a configuration example of the light deriving unit according to the present embodiment (an example of “light deriving unit” in the claims of the present application). In FIG. 6, a plate-like microchip 3 (an example of “light guide member” in the claims of the present application) mainly made of silicone resin is installed on the tablet terminal 1.

  The tablet terminal 1 has a camera 5. The microchip 3 includes a light guide path 7, an image surface 9, and a light deriving unit 11 (an example of a “light deriving unit” in the claims of the present application). The light deriving portion 11 includes a gas optical path portion 13 (an example of “first gas optical path portion” in the claims of the present application), a light guide hole 15, and a light deriving member 17 (an example of “light deriving member” in the claims of the present application). With. The light guide member 17 includes a surface A (an example of a “first slope” in the claims) and a surface B (an example of a “second slope” in the claims). The optical axis of the light guide path 7 and the optical axis 19 of the gas optical path portion 13 (an example of “first optical axis” in the claims of the present application) coincide with each other. The angle formed by the surface A with respect to the optical axis 19 is an angle α (an example of a “first angle” in the claims of the present application), and the angle formed by the surface B with respect to the optical axis 19 is expressed by an angle β ( An example of “angle” (0 ° ≦ α ≦ 90 °, 0 ° ≦ β ≦ 90 °).

In this configuration, the light derivation unit 11 is provided with a refractive surface (surface A in FIG. 6) having an interface with the atmosphere and a critical reflection surface (surface B) having an interface with the atmosphere.
That is, using the difference in refractive index between the atmosphere and the silicone resin, the light that travels in the horizontal direction in the silicone resin light guide (the direction of the optical axis 19 is the horizontal direction) once in the atmosphere (gas optical path section) 13), the derived light is again introduced from the surface A into the silicone resin (light deriving member 17). Here, the refraction direction of the incident light on the refracting surface A is refracted in the vertically downward direction by adjusting the angle of the light traveling on the light guide path of the silicone resin on the surface A with respect to the optical axis.

  By obtaining this refracted light (an example of “first refracted light” in the claims of the present application), the traveling direction of light incident on the critical reflection surface (surface B) is not the horizontal direction, and the critical reflection surface (surface B). The critical reflection condition at is relaxed. Therefore, according to this configuration, it is possible to use a silicone resin having a refractive index lower than 1.45. For example, even when a PDMS resin having a refractive index of about 1.41 is used as the silicone resin constituting the microchip, the light traveling in the horizontal direction through the light guide path of the microchip can be turned 90 degrees.

  Further, according to the present structure, it is possible to increase the permissible viewing angle as compared with the above [Structure 2].

  7 shows the elevation angles of the refractive surface (surface A in FIG. 6) and the critical reflection surface (surface B) when the silicone resin constituting the microchip 3 is a PDMS (refractive index = 1.008) material. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the viewing angle when it is set to 51.5 degree | times, and the surface A and the surface B. FIG.

  According to the optical path calculation, as shown in FIG. 7A, when the viewing angle is ± 9 degrees under the above conditions, the refractive surface and critical reflection surface in the light deriving unit 11 of the present invention shown in FIG. 6 are used. The light guide path inside the microchip 3 travels in the horizontal direction (the direction parallel to the lower surface of the microchip, ie, the direction of the optical axis 19), and enters the surface A from the horizontal direction via the atmosphere. It was found that the light to be turned can be turned 90 degrees. On the other hand, when the viewing angle is ± 10 degrees under the above conditions, as shown in FIG. 7B, a part of the light refracted on the refracting surface (surface A) is critically reflected on the critical surface (surface B). It was found that the silicone resin was released to the outside.

  That is, in this structure under the above-described conditions, the viewing angle can be expanded to ± 9 degrees as compared with the conventional structure [Structure 2].

  Here, a preferable range of the elevation angle of the refracting surface (surface A) and the critical reflecting surface (surface B) will be described based on the law of refraction and the law of reflection.

  When the refractive index of PDMS is nominally 1.41, the maximum value of the angle at which the light incident on the surface A along the optical axis is critically reflected on the surface B is 55.55 °. In addition, the minimum value of the angle at which light critically reflects at right angles to the optical axis on the surface B is 51.20 °.

  When the refractive index of PDMS is more accurately set to 1.408, based on the law of refraction and the law of reflection, the maximum value of the angle at which the light incident on the surface A along the optical axis is critically reflected at the surface B is 55 .46 °. In addition, the minimum value of the angle at which light critically reflects at right angles to the optical axis on the surface B is 51.17 °.

  Therefore, it can be said that the elevation angle is preferably 51.17 ° or more and 55.55 ° or less so that at least the refractive surface (surface A) and the critical reflection surface (surface B) function effectively.

  Furthermore, from the viewpoint of the traveling direction of the reflected light, a preferable range of the elevation angle of the refracting surface (surface A) and the critical reflecting surface (surface B) will be described. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the relationship between the elevation angle and the traveling direction of the reflected light. The elevation angles are (a) 50.5 °, (b) 51.0 °, (c) 51.5 °, and (d) 52. It is a figure which shows the advancing direction of the reflected light in case of 0.0 degree, (e) 52.5 degree, and (f) 53.0 degree. In FIG. 8, the elevation angle was changed in a range of 50.5 ° to 53 ° in 0.5 ° increments. Further, the angle of the incident light before entering the refracting surface was changed in increments of 1 ° within a range of ± 13 ° with respect to the optical axis direction.

  Referring to FIG. 8A, when the elevation angle is 50.5 °, the angle formed by the traveling direction of the reflected light with respect to the optical axis was clearly smaller than 90 °. Further, when the incident light was at angles of + 13 ° and + 12 °, critical reflection was not caused. Referring to FIG. 8B, when the elevation angle is 51.0 °, the angle formed by the traveling direction of the reflected light with respect to the optical axis was smaller than 90 °. In addition, when the incident light had angles of + 13 °, + 12 °, and + 11 °, critical reflection did not occur. With reference to FIG.8 (c), when the elevation angle was 51.5 degrees, the angle which the advancing direction of reflected light makes with respect to an optical axis was an angle close | similar to 90 degrees. Further, when the incident light has an angle of + 13 ° to + 10 °, critical reflection was not caused. Referring to FIG. 8D, when the elevation angle is 52.0 °, the angle formed by the traveling direction of the reflected light with respect to the optical axis is approximately 90 °. Further, when the incident light was at an angle of + 13 ° to + 9 °, critical reflection was not caused. Referring to FIG. 8E, when the elevation angle is 52.5 °, the angle formed by the traveling direction of the reflected light with respect to the optical axis is larger than 90 °. In addition, when the incident light was at an angle of + 13 ° to + 7 °, critical reflection did not occur. Finally, referring to FIG. 8F, when the elevation angle is 53.0 °, the angle formed by the reflected light traveling direction with respect to the optical axis is clearly larger than 90 °. In addition, when the incident light was at an angle of + 13 ° to + 7 °, critical reflection did not occur.

  Therefore, it can be said that the elevation angle is preferably 51.0 ° or more and 52.5 ° or less from the viewpoint that the traveling direction of the reflected light is close to 90 ° with respect to the optical axis.

  From the above, in order for the refractive surface (surface A) and the critical reflection surface (surface B) to function effectively, or for the traveling direction of the reflected light to be close to 90 ° with respect to the optical axis, the elevation angle is It can be said that the angle is more preferably 51.0 ° or more and 55.55 ° or less. Further, in order for the refracting surface (surface A) and the critical reflection surface (surface B) to function effectively and the traveling direction of the reflected light be close to 90 ° with respect to the optical axis, the elevation angle is 51 It can be said that the angle is more preferably 17 ° or more and 52.5 ° or less.

  In this embodiment, a light derivation member that improves the structure of the light derivation member 17 according to the first embodiment and makes it possible to derive light from a plurality of directions will be described.

  As described above, when PDMS resin (refractive index: 1.408) is used as the silicone resin, if the elevation angle of the refracting surface (surface A in FIG. 6) and the critical reflecting surface (surface B) is 51.5 degrees, The light traveling in the horizontal direction in the light guide path inside the microchip (the optical axis is in the horizontal direction) can be turned back 90 degrees. Further, as described above, when PDMS resin (refractive index: 1.408) is used, the elevation angle of the refracting surface (surface A in FIG. 6) and the elevation angle of the critical reflecting surface (surface B) in the present invention can be made equal. It was.

  That is, in FIG. 6, since the elevation angles of the refracting surface (surface A) and the critical reflecting surface (surface B) are equal, the light traveling in the horizontal direction in the gas optical path portion 13 inside the microchip 3 (the optical axis is in the horizontal direction). Is incident from the surface B side, the surface B in FIG. 6 functions as a refractive surface and the surface A functions as a critical reflecting surface. Therefore, the light incident from the surface B side in the horizontal direction can be turned back by 90 degrees.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 9A, a microchip made of PDMS resin has a first inclined surface 21 (“first inclined surface” in the claims of the present application) as two inclined surfaces having an interface with the atmosphere at the light outlet portion. ) And a second slope 23 (an example of “second slope” in the claims of the present application), and an elevation angle γ (an example of “first angle” in the claims of the present application) and the second slope of the first slope 21. The elevation angle δ (an example of the “second angle” in the claims of the present application) is 51.5 ° in both cases, and the first slope 21 and the second slope 23 intersect each other.

Further, the first light is an optical axis in the first gas optical path portion from the first image plane 9 ₁ is a light path of light incident on the first inclined surface 21 (an example of "first gas optical path portion" in the present claims) axis (the application examples of the "first optical axis" in the claims), "the second gas in the second gas optical path portion (the claims from the second image plane 9 ₂ is a light path of light incident on the second slope The second optical axis (an example of the “second optical axis” in the claims of the present application), which is the optical axis in the “optical path part”), coincides with the second optical axis.

Furthermore, elevation γ, the second inclined surface of the first refracted light 27 is refracted by the first inclined surface 21 from the image plane 9 ₁ proceeds the first optical axis (an example of "first refracted light" in the present claims) This is the angle at which light reaching 23 is present. The elevation angle δ is an angle at which light critically reflected by the second inclined surface 23 exists in the first refracted light 27 that reaches the second inclined surface 23.

Similarly, the elevation angle δ is first in the second refracted light 33 refracted by the second inclined surface 23 from the image plane 9 ₂ proceeds the second optical axis (an example of "second refracted light" in the present claims) This is an angle at which light reaching the slope 21 exists. The elevation angle γ is an angle at which light critically reflected by the first inclined surface 21 exists in the second refracted light 33 reaching the first inclined surface 21.

At this time, the first refracted light 27 of the first incident light 25 (first optical axis 19 ₁ : horizontal direction) incident on the first inclined surface 21 from the horizontal direction through the atmosphere is critically reflected by the second inclined surface 23. The first reflected light 29 is turned 90 degrees. On the other hand, the second refracted light 33 of the second incident light 31 (second optical axis 19 ₂ : horizontal direction) in which the light traveling in the horizontal direction through the atmosphere enters the second inclined surface 23 is caused by the first inclined surface 21. The first reflected light 35 which is critically reflected and turned 90 degrees is obtained.

According to the second embodiment, for example, light measurement is performed on two samples in a microchip, and each detection light (for example, fluorescence) is applied to the first slope 21 and the second slope 23 shown in FIG. When guided to the light lead-out portion of the microchip to be incident from the horizontal direction, as shown in FIG. 9 (b), projecting a light from both directions in the camera, as the image 37, the first image plane 9 ₁ it is possible to carry out (an example of the "light derivation method" in the present claims) image 39 ₁ and the optical derivation method for obtaining both an image 39 ₂ from the second image plane 9 ₂ from.

  In addition, two pairs of gas optical path portions and inclined surfaces having the same elevation angle (51.5 degrees) and having a refraction light of the light incident on one surface from the horizontal direction critically reflected by the other surface If provided and the structure of the light derivation part is a structure having four inclined surfaces, light from four directions can be projected onto the camera as shown in FIG.

Thus, a pair of a gas optical path portion and a slope having the same elevation angle (51.5 degrees) ("(2n-1) gas optical path portion, (2n-1) slope, second n gas optical path portion in claims of the present application"). And an example of “the combination of the 2n slopes” and providing the light guide member with a three-dimensional shape having 2n side surfaces, it is possible to project light from 2n directions onto the camera ( FIG. 10 shows the structure when n = 2 and FIG. 11 shows the structure when n = 4). With the structure of the light guide member 41 of FIG. 10, it is possible to obtain images 45 _{1 to} 45 ₄ from the direction facing the inclined surfaces 43 ₁ to 43 ₄ . Further, if the structure of the light leading member 47 in FIG. 11, it is possible to obtain an image ₅₁ 1 to 51 ₈ from a direction facing the inclined surface ₄₉ 1-49 _8.

  Here, the solid shape having 2n side surfaces may be a cone (an example of a “cone shape” in the claims of the present application) as illustrated in FIG. 10, or a cone as illustrated in FIG. 11. It may be a solid obtained by cutting out a part including the apex from the body (an example of “a solid shape obtained by cutting out a part of a cone” in the claims of the present application).

  According to the third embodiment, for example, a plurality of measurement lights are guided to one camera with a simple structure without adopting a complicated optical system used in the panoramic imaging apparatus described in Patent Document 2. It is possible to carry out a light deriving method (an example of “light deriving method” in the claims of the present application).

  In the second embodiment, the first optical axis and the second optical axis may be parallel without being coincident.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Tablet terminal, 3 ... Microchip, 5 ... Camera, 7 ... Light guide path, 9 ... Image surface, 11 ... Light derivation | leading-out part, 13 ... Gas optical path part, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 15 ... Light guide hole, 17 ... Light derivation member, 19 ... Optical axis, 21 ... 1st slope, 23 ... 2nd slope, 27 ... 1st refracted light, 29. ... first reflected light, 33 ... second refracted light, 35 ... second reflected light, 37 ... image, ₃₉ 1 ... first image from the image plane _{9 1, 39} 2 ... - second image from the image plane _{9 2}

Claims (8)

A light guide member having a light guide part for leading light to the outside, mainly made of silicone resin,
A first gas optical path portion whose optical path is filled with gas;
A first inclined surface that is inclined by a first angle with respect to a first optical axis that is an optical axis of the first gas optical path part to form an end of the first gas optical path part;
A second slope inclined by a second angle with respect to the first optical axis,
The first angle is an angle at which there is light that reaches the second slope among the first refracted light that travels along the first optical axis and is refracted by the first slope.
The light guide member, wherein the second angle is an angle at which light that is critically reflected by the second slope among the first refracted light that reaches the second slope is present. Apart from the first gas optical path part, the optical path further comprises a second gas optical path part filled with gas,
The second slope forms an end of the second gas optical path part,
The second angle is an angle at which there is light reaching the first slope among the second refracted light that travels along the second optical axis that is the optical axis of the second gas optical path portion and is refracted by the second slope. And
2. The light guide member according to claim 1, wherein the first angle is an angle at which light critically reflected by the first slope among the second refracted light that reaches the first slope exists. PDMS is filled in the optical path between the first slope and the second slope,
An angle α (0 ° ≦ α ≦ 90 °) formed by the first inclined surface with respect to the first optical axis, and an angle β (0 ° ≦ β ≦ formed by the second inclined surface with respect to the second optical axis). 90 °)
The light guide member according to claim 2, wherein 51.0 ° ≦ α ≦ 55.55 ° and 51.0 ° ≦ β ≦ 55.55 °.   The light guide member according to claim 3, wherein 51.17 ° ≦ α ≦ 52.5 ° and 51.17 ° ≦ β ≦ 52.5 °. The first optical axis and the second optical axis are parallel or coincident,
The light guide member according to claim 3 or 4, wherein a value of α is equal to a value of β.   As a combination corresponding to the first gas optical path part, the first slope, the second gas optical path part, and the second slope, a (2n-1) gas optical path part, (( 2n-1) The light guide member according to any one of claims 2 to 5, further comprising at least one combination of a slope, a second n gas optical path portion, and a second n slope. A light deriving member for deriving incident light to the outside,
It has a three-dimensional shape obtained by cutting out a shape of a cone or a part of a cone,
The three-dimensional shape has a side surface and a bottom surface,
The three-dimensional shape is filled with PDMS,
The light guide member, wherein an elevation angle of the side surface with respect to the bottom surface is 51.0 ° or more and 55.55 ° or less. A light derivation method using a plate-shaped light guide member mainly made of silicone resin,
The light guide member is
A first gas optical path portion whose optical path is filled with gas;
A first inclined surface that is inclined by a first angle with respect to a first optical axis that is an optical axis of the first gas optical path part to form an end of the first gas optical path part;
A second slope inclined by a second angle with respect to the first optical axis,
The first angle is an angle at which there is light that reaches the second slope among the first refracted light that travels along the first optical axis and is refracted by the first slope.
The second angle is an angle at which light critically reflected by the second slope among the first refracted light reaching the second slope exists.
A light derivation method comprising an incident step of causing light to enter the first inclined surface along the first optical axis.