Abstract
We present a thiol-ene/methacrylate-based photopolymer capable of creating coplanar physical features (e.g. micro-fluidic channels) and optical index features (e.g. waveguides) using standard mask-based lithography techniques. This new photopolymer consists of two monomer species that polymerize at different rates. By selectively exposing different areas of a device for various amounts of time, we can select the state of the polymer (i.e. liquid, rubbery, or glassy) to create fluid channels or optical index structures such as waveguides. Using only three exposure steps and two masks, we demonstrate an integrated refractometer with a 90° channel-waveguide crossing to illustrate the fabrication process and the ability to create lithographically aligned waveguides across a gap.
Highlights
Lab-on-a-chip devices have benefitted from the ability to combine optical features and fluidic features in a common optofluidic device
In many approaches to integrating these features, optical waveguides are formed using complex procedures that involve creating the waveguide from separate materials
Holographic photopolymers offer a new route to fluidic-photonic device integration in a single material that may reduce the complexity of integrating optical and fluidic features while allowing for the possibility to create more complex optical features
Summary
Lab-on-a-chip devices have benefitted from the ability to combine optical features and fluidic features in a common optofluidic device. Holographic photopolymers offer a new route to fluidic-photonic device integration in a single material that may reduce the complexity of integrating optical and fluidic features while allowing for the possibility to create more complex optical features. Holographic photopolymers are solid materials that self-develop index structures in response to optical exposure. Without any need for subsequent wet processing, these materials are ideal for thick, complex photonic structures such as densely-overlapped holograms [1], narrow-band holographic filters [3], optical waveguides [4,5], and gradient-index lenses [6]. We expand on the capabilities of current holographic polymers by developing a polymer capable of creating both fluidic channels and index features through sequential UV exposure. We illustrate the processing of this material with a 90° waveguide-channel crossing to implement a refractometer (Fig. 1)
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