Demonstration of the coupling of optofluidic ring resonator lasers with liquid waveguides.
Optofluidic lasers are of particular interest for lab-on-a-chip-type devices, with broad spectral tunability, convenient microfluidic integration, and a small footprint. Optofluidic ring resonator (OFRR) lasers are advantageous in terms of size but typically generate nondirectional emission that is of minimal practical use. We introduce two unique geometries for soft-lithography-based OFRR lasers--side-coupled rings and spiral rings--both of which can be produced in polydimethyl siloxane substrates with contact molding. These rings utilize evanescent and direct butt-coupling, respectively, to effectively couple the OFRR laser emission into microfluidic channels. A laser threshold of a few to tens of microJ/mm(2) is achieved.
Suter
Jonathan D
JD
Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, 1101 Beal Avenue, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109, USA.
Lee
Wonsuk
W
Howard
Daniel J
DJ
Hoppmann
Eric
E
White
Ian M
IM
Fan
Xudong
X
D004396:Coloring Agents; D007834:Lasers; D046210:Microfluidic Analytical Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation*; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols
D004396:Coloring Agents; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols