Design and fabrication of photonic devices and a microfluidic channel with a femtosecond laser

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

This article presents the modeling and fabrication of photonic devices such as a Mach-Zehnder waveguide interferometer (MZWI) and a 1 × 4 optical power splitter (OPS) with a microfluidic channel. The photonic structures were designed using CAD software and BeamPROPTM to have an s-shaped waveguide bend geometry and a total length of 8000 μm, and the devices were then integrated with a 6000 μm microfluidic channel to form configurations based on conical spirals and helices with femtosecond laser radiation. The entire writing process was performed in a single step with a 20X microscope objective to achieve greater accuracy in the manufacturing process. A chemical etching step was performed using the shape-controlled with femtosecond laser irradiation followed by chemical etching (SC-FLICE) technique, forming a uniform cross-section in the central part of the microfluidic channel. The energy doses and translation speeds of the system were varied, resulting in a longer microfluidic channel. However, this work was limited to the design and development of the prototype due to the project objectives and limited resources. In this research, we introduce an optofluidic system which integrates the principles of optics and microfluidics, is suitable for biosensing applications. The compatibility of this system with biosensing applications paves the way for significant progress in various sectors, including medical diagnostics, environmental surveillance, and biochemical studies. The originality and value of this work lie in its unique design and potential for broad application. The present work, it was demonstrated that using ultrafast laser writing, we can fabricate photonic devices and a consistent microfluidic channel on a single step.