Journal
LAB ON A CHIP
Volume 12, Issue 19, Pages 3734-3739Publisher
ROYAL SOC CHEMISTRY
DOI: 10.1039/c2lc40494j
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- 'Concept for the Future' of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology within the framework of the German Excellence Initiative
- Karlsruhe Nano Micro Facility (KNMF)
- Helmholtz Research Infrastructure at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
- Hans Christian Orsted Postdoctoral Programme at the Technical University of Denmark
- Danish Research Council for Technology and Production Sciences [274-09-0105]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Lab-on-a-chip systems made of polymers are promising for the integration of active optical elements, enabling e. g. on-chip excitation of fluorescent markers or spectroscopy. In this work we present diffusion operation of tunable optofluidic dye lasers in a polymer foil. We demonstrate that these first order distributed feedback lasers can be operated for more than 90 min at a pulse repetition rate of 2 Hz without fluidic pumping. Ultra-high output pulse energies of more than 10 mu J and laser thresholds of 2 mu J are achieved for resonator lengths of 3 mm. By introducing comparatively large on-chip dye solution reservoirs, the required exchange of dye molecules is accomplished solely by diffusion. Polymer chips the size of a microscope cover slip (18 x 18 mm(2)) were fabricated in batches on a wafer using a commercially available polymer (TOPAS (R) Cyclic Olefin Copolymer). Thermal imprinting of micro- and nanoscale structures into 100 mm foils simultaneously defines photonic resonators, liquid-core waveguides, and fluidic reservoirs. Subsequently, the fluidic structures are sealed with another 220 mu m foil by thermal bonding. Tunability of laser output wavelengths over a spectral range of 24 nm on a single chip is accomplished by varying the laser grating period in steps of 2 nm. Low-cost manufacturing suitable for mass production, wide laser tunability, ultra-high output pulse energies, and long operation times without external fluidic pumping make these on-chip lasers suitable for a wide range of lab-on-a-chip applications, e. g. on-chip spectroscopy, biosensing, excitation of fluorescent markers, or surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS).
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available