DOE Patents Database - Search Results

Patent Title	Inventor(s)	Issue Date	Patent Number
This invention provides a new method for rapidly analyzing single bioparticles to assess their material condition and state of health. The method is enabled by use of a resonant cavity apparatus to measure an optical property related to the bioparticle size and refractive index. Measuring the refractive index is useful for determining material properties of the bioparticle. The material properties depend on the biomolecular composition of the bioparticle. The biomolecular composition is, in turn, dependent on the state of health of the bioparticle. Thus, measured optical properties can be used to differentiate normal (healthy) and abnormal (diseased) states of bioparticles derived from cells or tissues. The method is illustrated with data obtained from a resonator with a gain medium. The invention also provides new methods for making multiple measurements in a single device and detecting, analyzing, and manipulating bioparticles that are much smaller than the wavelength of light. Nanolaser spectroscopy and micro-optical resonators for detecting, analyzing, and manipulating bioparticles	Gourley, Paul L.	06/26/2012	8,209,128
A resonant-cavity apparatus for cytometry or particle analysis. The apparatus comprises a resonant optical cavity having an analysis region within the cavity for containing one or more biological cells or dielectric particles to be analyzed. In the presence of a cell or particle, a light beam in the form of spontaneous emission or lasing is generated within the resonant optical cavity and is encoded with information about the cell or particle. An analysis means including a spectrometer and/or a pulse-height analyzer is provided within the apparatus for recovery of the information from the light beam to determine a size, shape, identification or other characteristics about the cells or particles being analyzed. The recovered information can be grouped in a multi-dimensional coordinate space for identification of particular types of cells or particles. In some embodiments of the apparatus, the resonant optical cavity can be formed, at least in part, from a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser. The apparatus and method are particularly suited to the analysis of biological cells, including blood cells, and can further include processing means for manipulating, sorting, or eradicating cells after analysis thereof. Resonant-cavity apparatus for cytometry or particle analysis	Gourley, Paul L.	01/01/1998	US 5793485
A method for quantifying the concentration of hemoglobin in a cell, and indicia of anemia, comprises determining the wavelength of the longitudinal mode of a liquid in a laser microcavity; determining the wavelength of the fundamental transverse mode of a red blood cell in the liquid in the laser microcavity; and determining if the cell is anemic from the difference between the wavelength of the longitudinal mode and the fundamental transverse mode. In addition to measuring hemoglobin, the invention includes a method using intracavity laser spectroscopy to measure the change in spectra as a function of time for measuring the influx of water into a red blood cell and the cell's subsequent rupture. Method for determining properties of red blood cells	Gourley, Paul L.	01/01/2001	US 6187592
A method for distinguishing a normal cell from an abnormal cell, such as, for example a cancer cell or diseased cell, of the same tissue type using mitochondrial correlation microscopy. Method for detecting cancer in a single cell using mitochondrial correlation microscopy	Gourley, Paul L.	03/06/2012	8,131,112
An apparatus and method for microscopic and spectroscopic analysis and processing of biological cells. The apparatus comprises a laser having an analysis region within the laser cavity for containing one or more biological cells to be analyzed. The presence of a cell within the analysis region in superposition with an activated portion of a gain medium of the laser acts to encode information about the cell upon the laser beam, the cell information being recoverable by an analysis means that preferably includes an array photodetector such as a CCD camera and a spectrometer. The apparatus and method may be used to analyze biomedical cells including blood cells and the like, and may include processing means for manipulating, sorting, or eradicating cells after analysis thereof. Laser apparatus and method for microscopic and spectroscopic analysis and processing of biological cells	Gourley, Paul L. , Gourley, Mark F.	01/01/1997	US 5608519
A temperature-insensitive vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) and method for fabrication thereof. The temperature-insensitive VCSEL comprises a quantum-well active region within a resonant cavity, the active region having a gain spectrum with a high-order subband (n.gtoreq.2) contribution thereto for broadening and flattening the gain spectrum, thereby substantially reducing any variation in operating characteristics of the VCSEL over a temperature range of interest. The method for forming the temperature-insensitive VCSEL comprises the steps of providing a substrate and forming a plurality of layers thereon for providing first and second distributed Bragg reflector (DBR) mirror stacks with an active region sandwiched therebetween, the active region including at least one quantum-well layer providing a gain spectrum having a high-order subband (n.gtoreq.2) gain contribution, and the DBR mirror stacks having predetermined layer compositions and thicknesses for providing a cavity resonance within a predetermined wavelength range substantially overlapping the gain spectrum. Temperature-insensitive vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers and method for fabrication thereof	Chow, Weng W. , Choquette, Kent D. , Gourley, Paul L.	01/01/1998	US 5712865
A semiconductor optical device which includes a superlattice having direct transitions between conduction band and valence band states with the same wave vector, the superlattice being formed from a plurality of alternating layers of two or more different materials, at least the material with the smallest bandgap being an indirect bandgap material. Superlattice optical device	Biefeld, Robert M. , Fritz, Ian J. , Gourley, Paul L. , Osbourn, Gordon C.	01/01/1986	US 4616241
A semiconductor high reflector comprising a number of thin alternating layers of semiconductor materials is electrically tunable and may be used as a temperature insensitive semiconductor laser in a Fabry-Perot configuration. Semiconductor devices incorporating multilayer interference regions	Biefeld, Robert M. , Drummond, Timothy J. , Gourley, Paul L. , Zipperian, Thomas E.	01/01/1990	US 4947223

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