Dynamic control of liquid-core/liquid-cladding optical waveguides.
This report describes the manipulation of light in waveguides that comprise a liquid core and a liquid cladding (liq/liq waveguide). These waveguides are dynamic: Their structure and function depend on a continuous, laminar flow of the core and cladding liquids. Because they are dynamic, they can be reconfigured and adapted continuously in ways that are not possible with solid-state waveguides. The liquids are introduced into the channels of a microfluidic network designed to sandwich the flowing core liquid between flowing slabs of the cladding fluid. At low and moderate Reynolds numbers, flow is laminar, and the liq/liq interfaces are optically smooth. Small irregularities in the solid walls of the channels do not propagate into these interfaces, and liq/liq waveguides therefore exhibit low optical loss because of scattering. Manipulating the rate of flow and the composition of the liquids tunes the characteristics of these optical systems.
Wolfe
Daniel B
DB
Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, 12 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Conroy
Richard S
RS
Garstecki
Piotr
P
Mayers
Brian T
BT
Fischbach
Michael A
MA
Paul
Kateri E
KE
Prentiss
Mara
M
Whitesides
George M
GM