Yz. Deng et Bc. Li, ON-COLUMN REFRACTIVE-INDEX DETECTION BASED ON RETROREFLECTED BEAM INTERFERENCE FOR CAPILLARY ELECTROPHORESIS, Applied optics, 37(6), 1998, pp. 998-1005
A novel refractive-index detection scheme used for capillary electroph
oresis detection, based on the interference of two retroreflected beam
s from the outer surface of a capillary tube illuminated by a focused
laser beam, is described. A theoretical description and experimental m
easurement of the intensity profile of the interference fringe pattern
in the detection plane are presented. The factors that limit the sens
itivity of the proposed refractive-index detection scheme are discusse
d and compared with the transmitted beam interference and backscatter-
based refractive-index detection configurations. The proposed refracti
ve-index detector was used successfully for detection of capillary ele
ctrophoresis separations of saccharose, maltose, and lactose with a ca
pillary tube of 50-mu m inner diameter and a simple experimental setup
. (C) 1998 Optical Society of America.