Abstract
Single frequency lasing from organic dye solutions on a monolithic poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) elastomer chip is demonstrated. The laser cavity consists of a single mode liquid core/PDMS cladding channel waveguide and a phase shifted 15th order distributed feedback (DFB) structure. A 1mM solution of Rhodamine 6G in a methanol and ethylene glycol mixture was used as the gain medium. Using 6 nanosecond 532nm Nd:YAG laser pulses as the pump light, we achieved threshold pump fluence of ~0.8mJ/cm(2) and single-mode operation at pump levels up to ten times the threshold. This microfabricated dye laser provides a compact and inexpensive coherent light source for microfluidics and integrated optics covering from near UV to near IR spectral region.
Highlights
Several groups have demonstrated on-chip liquid dye lasers using different materials and laser cavity geometries [1, 2, 3]
Single frequency lasing from organic dye solutions on a monolithic poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) elastomer chip is demonstrated
The laser cavity consists of a single mode liquid core/PDMS cladding channel waveguide and a phase shifted 15th order distributed feedback (DFB) structure
Summary
Several groups have demonstrated on-chip liquid dye lasers using different materials and laser cavity geometries [1, 2, 3]. Such lasers allow the integration of coherent light sources with other microfluidic and optical functionalities, and are of great interest for making fully functional ‘lab-on-a-chip’ systems. DFB cavities combined with 3D optical waveguides are very efficient structures for making single frequency microfabricated lasers [5]. Their implementation on a microfluidic chip will greatly improve the performance of microfabricated liquid dye lasers
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