Patent ID: 7630073

Claim:
An analytical system, comprising: a substrate having a plurality of discrete signal sources disposed thereon; an excitation light source; and an optical train positioned to transmit excitation light from the excitation light source to the substrate to illuminate a first plurality of illuminated signal sources and a second plurality of illuminated signal sources, and image signals from the plurality of illuminated signal sources onto an array detector; wherein one or more of the substrate and the optical train are configured such that the first plurality of illuminated signal sources is spaced from the second plurality of illuminated signal sources by a first distance that is greater than a cross sectional dimension of an image of a signal from a signal source in the first plurality of signal sources that is imaged onto the array detector; and wherein the optical train is configured to provide a first and second illumination profile upon the substrate, wherein the first and second illumination profiles on the substrate are spaced apart by the first distance.