Waveguide-based optofluidics

Christian Karnutsch; Snjezana Tomljenovic-Hanic; Christelle Monat; Christian Grillet; Peter Domachuk; Ross McPhedran; Benjamin J. Eggleton; Liam O'Faolain; Thomas F. Krauss; Sanshui Xiao; Niels A. Mortensen

doi:10.1117/12.839822

16 February 2010 Waveguide-based optofluidics

Christian Karnutsch, Snjezana Tomljenovic-Hanic, Christelle Monat, Christian Grillet, Peter Domachuk, Ross McPhedran, Benjamin J. Eggleton, Liam O'Faolain, Thomas F. Krauss, Sanshui Xiao, Niels A. Mortensen

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 7606, Silicon Photonics V; 760615 (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.839822
Event: SPIE OPTO, 2010, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

Optofluidic devices exploit the characteristics of liquids to achieve a dynamic adaptation of their optical properties. The use of liquids allows for functionalities of optical elements to be created, reconfigured or tuned. We present an overview of our work on fluid-control of optical elements and highlight the benefits of an optofluidic approach, focusing on optofluidic cavities created in silicon photonic crystal (PhC) waveguide platforms. These cavities can be spatially and spectrally reconfigured, thus allowing a dynamic control of their optical characteristics. PhC cavities are major building blocks in many applications, from microlasers and biomedical sensor systems to optical switches and integrated circuits. In this paper, we show that PhC microcavities can be formed by infusing a liquid into a selected section of a uniform PhC waveguide and that the optical properties of these cavities can be tuned and adapted. By taking advantage of the negative thermo-optic coefficient of liquids, we describe a method which renders PhC cavities insensitive to temperature changes in the environment. This is only one example where the fluid-control of optical elements results in a functionality that would be very hard to realize with other methods and techniques.

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Christian Karnutsch, Snjezana Tomljenovic-Hanic, Christelle Monat, Christian Grillet, Peter Domachuk, Ross McPhedran, Benjamin J. Eggleton, Liam O'Faolain, Thomas F. Krauss, Sanshui Xiao, and Niels A. Mortensen "Waveguide-based optofluidics", Proc. SPIE 7606, Silicon Photonics V, 760615 (16 February 2010); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.839822

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