Re-usable PDMS stamps for non-destructive fluorescence evaluation and imaging of thin film photonic structures.

We report on a non-destructive method for evaluating fluorescence emission from fluorophores placed upon engineered photonic structures. Our method utilizes re-usable, fluorescent thin film coated polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) stamps. We harness the inherent characteristics of PDMS slabs; their ability to form conformal contact through van der Waals interactions in bringing the coated fluorescent layer on PDMS into close proximity of the photonic structure of interest.