Optofluidic waveguides with hydrophobic microstructured and nanoporous-structured claddings

Xiao, L., Birks, T.A. and Peacock, A.C. (2014) Optofluidic waveguides with hydrophobic microstructured and nanoporous-structured claddings. Optofluidics, , Guangzhou, China. 28 - 30 Aug 2014.

Abstract

Fabrication of special optofluidic waveguide channels is one of the important issues in optofluidics. In this talk, we will discuss two different kinds of hydrophobic optofluidic waveguide. The first is a hydrophobic photonic crystal fiber (PCF) that we have fabricated via chemically treating the surface of the fiber holes using hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS) vapour. This treatment repels water from the holes, so that the optical properties of the PCFs remain unchanged even when they are immersed in water. These fibers can form the basis of ultra-compact dissolved gas sensor elements and, for example, we have demonstrated their use for sensing dissolved ammonia gas. The second optofluidic waveguide is fabricated by forming a hollow channel within hydrophobic silica aerogel. The nanoporous aerogel acts as the cladding, having an extremely low refractive index of about 1.05, so that higher index liquids can be infiltrated to form an aqueous core. The high numerical aperture of the optofluidic waveguide will benefit many applications such as fluorescence spectroscopy. Furthermore, the porosity of the aerogel allows any air to be displaced from the channel, preventing the trapping of bubbles. The favorable properties of this new type of waveguide will be discussed in relation to dissolved gas sensors and biosensors areas, and the potential to extend the applications through the use of simplified hollow core microstructured fibers will be examined.

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Contributors

Author: A.C. Peacock

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