CY5 fluorescence measured with silicon photomultipliers

This paper presents an efficient optical biosensor set up for a low-level light detection, using fluorescent dyes and a novel Si-based detector. Fluorescence emitted by a traditional fluorophore, CY5, widely used as optical label in DNA microarrays, was detected using a 25 pixels Silicon photomultiplier (SiPM), a device formed by avalanche diodes operating in Geiger mode, in parallel connections. We measured the fluorescence current in different deposition (fluorophore concentration; solvent; salt concentration) and operation (angle of analysis, optical laser power, device gain) conditions. The characterization of DNA samples labeled with CY5 is also reported to demonstrate the detector pot…