Shao Liyang, Liu Zhengyong, Hu Jie, Gunawardena Dinusha, Tam Hwa-Yaw
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen 518055, China.
Photonics Research Center, Department of Electrical Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon, Hong Kong.
Micromachines (Basel). 2018 Mar 24;9(4):145. doi: 10.3390/mi9040145.
In this paper, we review the development and applications of optofluidics investigated based on the platform of microstructured optical fibers (MOFs) that have miniature air channels along the light propagating direction. The flexibility of the customizable air channels of MOFs provides enough space to implement light-matter interaction, as fluids and light can be guided simultaneously along a single strand of fiber. Different techniques employed to achieve the fluidic inlet/outlet as well as different applications for biochemical analysis are presented. This kind of miniature platform based on MOFs is easy to fabricate, free of lithography, and only needs a tiny volume of the sample. Compared to optofluidics on the chip, no additional waveguide is necessary to guide the light since the core is already designed in MOFs. The measurements of flow rate, refractive index of the filled fluids, and chemical reactions can be carried out based on this platform. Furthermore, it can also demonstrate some physical phenomena. Such devices show good potential and prospects for applications in bio-detection as well as material analysis.
在本文中，我们回顾了基于微结构光纤（MOF）平台研究的光流体学的发展与应用，该微结构光纤在光传播方向上具有微型空气通道。MOF可定制空气通道的灵活性提供了足够的空间来实现光与物质的相互作用，因为流体和光可以沿着单根光纤同时被引导。文中介绍了用于实现流体进出口的不同技术以及生化分析的不同应用。这种基于MOF的微型平台易于制造，无需光刻，且仅需微量样品。与芯片上的光流体学相比，由于MOF中已设计了纤芯，因此无需额外的波导来引导光。基于该平台可以进行流速、填充流体的折射率以及化学反应的测量。此外，它还可以展示一些物理现象。此类装置在生物检测以及材料分析方面具有良好的应用潜力和前景。
