OPTOFLUIDICS

摘要

Optical devices which incorporate liquids as a fundamental part of the structure can be traced at least as far back as the eighteenth century where rotating pools of mercury were proposed as a simple technique to create smooth mirrors for use in reflecting telescopes. The development of modern microfluidic and nanofluidic devices has enabled a present day equivalent of such devices centered on the marriage of fluidics and optics which we refer to as "Optofluidics." We review here two optofluidic technologies of relevance to microsystems for security. For the first of these, I will focus on our efforts to novel biomolecular optical sensing architectures for pathogen detection and genetic screening. Two approaches will be discussed; the first exploiting optical resonance in silicon photonic devices and the second using Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy (SERS) based detection. Preliminary data for serotype specific Dengue virus detection and Interleukin immunoassay will be presented. In the second area we will demonstrate how photonic devices can be used to drive micro- and nanoscale transport processes when traditional mechanisms (e.g. pressure and electrokinetics) fail. Here it will be demonstrated how the concentration and amplification of the optical field inside slot waveguides and ring resonators results in extremely large scattering and polarization forces. These forces can be used to trap organic and inorganic targets ranging in size from tens of microns to handfuls of nanometers. Some of the advanced analytical, numerical and experimental techniques used to investigate and design these systems will be discussed as well as issues relating to integration and their fabrication.