The potential of optofluidic biolasers

Abstract

An optofluidic bio-laser integrates biological materials into the gain medium while forming an optical cavity in the fluidic environment, either on a microfluidic chip or within a biological system. The laser emission has characteristics fundamentally different from conventional fluorescence emission. It can be highly sensitive to a specific molecular change in the gain medium as the light-matter interaction is amplified by the resonance in the cavity. The enhanced sensitivity can be used to probe and quantify the underlying biochemical and biological processes in vitro in a microfluidic device, in situ in a cell (cytosol), or in vivo in a live organism. Here we describe the principle of the optofluidic bio-laser, review its recent progress and provide an outlook of this emerging technology.

Droplet microfluidics: A tool for biology, chemistry and nanotechnology

“…An important droplet-based technology is optofluidic lasers, in which biochemical or biological molecules are incorporated into the gain medium [78] (Figure 5). An optofluidic laser consists of three main components: a gain medium in the fluidic environment, an optical cavity and an pumping system.…”

Electro-tunable liquid crystal laser based on high-Q Fabry-Pérot microcavity

“…Laser light source is tremendously useful in optical detection/analysis systems, owing to its coherence, controlled polarization, and monochromaticity [1][2][3]. A laser device with tunable wavelength would be particularly attractive as the light source in a micro total analysis system (µTAS), also known as a lab-on-a-chip, for biochemical sensing, since various dyes are utilized to stain the biomolecular analyte in the optical sensing platforms [3][4][5][6].…”

“…A laser device with tunable wavelength would be particularly attractive as the light source in a micro total analysis system (µTAS), also known as a lab-on-a-chip, for biochemical sensing, since various dyes are utilized to stain the biomolecular analyte in the optical sensing platforms [3][4][5][6]. Optofluidic lasers [7][8][9] have been intensively investigated for these applications, due to their superior lasing characteristics and long-range wavelength tunability that is obtained by exchanging the liquid gain medium in the fluidic channel.…”

Optofluidic Microlasers based on Femtosecond Micromachining Technology

“…High quality factor Q optical resonators have been realized as ring-shaped cavities fabricated on chip [9,10]. Their resonances are given by the whispering gallery modes and allow lasing on a broad range of emission wavelengths.…”