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.
Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, 12 Oxford Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
Daniel B
DB
Wolfe
Richard S
RS
Conroy
Piotr
P
Garstecki
Brian T
BT
Mayers
Michael A
MA
Fischbach
Kateri E
KE
Paul
Mara
M
Prentiss
George M
GM
Whitesides