An interface chip connection between capillary electrophoresis and thermal lens microscope

Abstract
A thermal lens microscope (TLM) detection of capillary electrophoresis (CE) utilizing microchip technology was developed. Fused-silica capillaries with an inner diameter of 50 μm were directly connected to a microchannel in a microchip. The detection limit by TLM was estimated as 2.8×10-7 absorbance by measuring pure water. The detection limit of derivatized amino acids determined by CE-TLM was estimated as 2.4×10-8 M, which was 100 times lower than that of conventional absorbance detection.