The power density of optical excitation in microfluidic-photonic-integrated flow cytometers is typically provided from
an integrated waveguide and the beam is therefore divergent within the microchannel due to the NA of the waveguide; a
detrimental effect on detection capabilities as excitation is not uniform throughout the channel and will generate a long
pulse for excitation. Through integration of a lens system specially designed and simulated to collect and reshape 100%
of input power, the excitation power within the microchannel has been controlled to form an optimal spot size within the
microchannel. The device was formed via a one-shot processing method where designs are patterned into a SU-8 layer
on a Pyrex substrate. A poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) layer was used to seal the device and serve as an upper
cladding for integrated waveguides. Spot sizes were improved from an unfocused width of 86um to less than 40um.
Power densities were controlled throughout the width of the channel - an improvement for flow cytometry applications.
High-throughput detection and identification of foodborne pathogens are in increasing demand for rapid bacteria
detections in food safety and quality monitoring. As an effective method, microchip-based flow cytometry
(microcytometery) has a potential to be less expensive and high throughout, and requires less bulky instrumentation than
conventional methods. In this work, a low-cost and robust microcytometer with a simple optical setup was developed for
demonstrating the high-throughput identification of foodborne bacterial pathogens that integrate sample flow focusing
and detection into one testing procedure. High performance identification capability was achieved through
simultaneously detecting the fluorescence and scatter light emitted from micro-fabricated channel, after designing and
optimizing the laser shaping optical system and the micro-channel structure to improve the excitation light intensity as
well as the detection sensitivity. In our configuration, the simple testing configuration with the collection angle of 42° in
the orthogonal plane to micro chip presents the best SNR for both signals through simulation and systematic
measurements. As a result, the maximum throughput of 83particles/s for the fluorescence-labelled bead with diameter of
1.013μm was obtained as well as the high detection efficiency (above 99%) and the correlation percentage (above
99.5%). Apart from the high detection sensitivity and identification power, this microcytometer also has the advantages
of simple optical structure, compactness and ease in building.
The aim of this paper is to improve the functionality and efficiency of a microfluidic device by optically
simulating all of the components of the device and then identifying and optimizing the areas of the device
where the optics and the microfluidic components overlap. Design of the device will incorporate current
advanced methods, such as a state-of-the-art one-shot manufacturing processand noise reduction techniques
utilizing 8 parallel waveguides. A suitable material to build this device is the polymer SU-8, which has a
refractive index of 1.56 while borofloat glass, refractive index of 1.47, is used as a substrate, and an optical
adhesive (Norland Optical Adhesive 74, index of 1.52) is used to seal the device (and serve as the
waveguide cladding) by filling the gap in between waveguides reducing scattering losses and confining
higher modes. As such, simulations take into account all these parameters. Design of a photomask will
take into account three main sources of loss due to the integration of optics and microfluidics: wall
thickness, channel thickness, and input angle. Simulations have yielded behaviours and values for these
parameters. Wall thickness should be limited to 200um thick which will yield a -5.54dB attenuation (-
2.77dB at the particle) on the input (due to high angular propagation of higher order modes). Input angle of
the waveguides (which is crucial to the elimination of signal noise on the output) has been found to reduce
output signal noise to -9.60dB at an input angle of 74 degrees to the channel.
This work was to introduce a reference mechanism in fiber based-SPR (surface plasmon resonance)
sensors to increase their sensitivity. We fabricated two tandem SPR sections in a single optical fiber and
coated one of the sections with a reference material to split a regular single resonant peak into two peaks,
one in regular wavelength range for sensing and another one in longer wavelength range for referencing.
By using the referencing peak to specifically detect the SPR changes caused by uncontrolled factors, such
as temperature variation, non-specific bonding, we were able to subtract the contribution of these factors
to the sensing peak using an established relationship, and thus increase the sensitivity of the sensing dip. With the method, we have demonstrated a fiber-based SPR humidity sensor whose sensitivity is immune to the variation of environment temperature.
Optical fiber sensors have shown great potentials for aerospace applications. But two issues need to be addressed before
these applications can be realized. One is how to reliably implement optical sensors in the air vehicles. The other is the
need of compact, low weight sensor interrogation systems. We propose to use planar lightwave circuits (PLC) to address
the second issue. In this article, we report some of our results on the development of both echelle diffractive gratings
based sensor interrogator and arrayed waveguide gratings based sensor interrogators. Both approaches offer miniaturized
solutions for the development of optical fiber sensor interrogation systems.
Using an arrayed waveguide gratings (AWG) based demultiplexer, a simple channel gain equalizer can be designed. The gain equalization and blocking functions are realized by the hybrid waveguide based variable optical attenuators fabricated on the output waveguides of the demultiplexer. This paper discusses the operation principle of the design and presents some simulation results.
Quantum operator algebra related to Jaynes-Cummings model is developed to design multi-reflector resonant bandpass filters for the first time. Transmittance and reflectance spectra of these filters are givens with analytic expressions. The results are found in agreement with those based on the existing filter design method. By selecting parameters such as r and N, designed filters can achieve a target spectrum profile with flat-top, large bandwidth, and minor ripples.
1x2 and 2x2 optical waveguide directional couplers were fabricated in a silica glass sample by a femtosecond laser and characterized at the wavelength of 1.5 μm. The coupling coefficient was determined by systematically writing series of 1x2 directional couplers. After the process and design optimization, the two types of waveguide directional couplers successfully achieved the coupling ratio of about 3.0 dB with the average IL and PDL 6.55 ± 0.25 dB and 0.28 ± 0.12 dB respectively. The multi-scan writing technique with inter-scan shifts was used to reshape the magnitude and profile of the refractive index change so that excess loss of S bends and the PDL for such couplers were substantially reduced.
1x4 optical waveguide power splitters were fabricated in a fused silica glass sample using a focused 800nm-amplified femtosecond laser, and characterized in terms of their optical properties at the wavelength of 1550nm. A shifted multi-scan writing technique was developed to substantially reduce the excess loss of the involved Y junctions and the polarization dependent loss of such integrated splitters.
Our developed thermal curing adhesives were reported having excellent performance in coupling optical fibers to waveguides. The fiber-to-waveguide coupling process based on these adhesives is reported in this paper. The process consisted of three major steps in the process, including loading waveguide dies and fiber arrays onto the sample holders, aligning the fibers to waveguides at a constant temperature to reach minimum loss, bonding the fiber arrays to waveguide dies. The sample holders, which used ceramic spaces to isolate heat and springs to damp stress, were specially designed to keep fiber arrays and waveguide dies at a constant temperature up to 120°C with minimum shift. When the fiber arrays and waveguide dies were equilibrated with the set temperature, a rough alignment was conducted manually, followed by an automatic alignment controlled by a Melles Griot system. Then, the adhesives with proper viscosity and curing rate were applied to the gaps between fiber array and waveguide dies to bond them together. The curing temperature was optimized so that the adhesives could be distributed rapidly and cured at a speed that still allowed a small alignment adjustment during the curing. Such a temperature optimization was achieved by studying the adhesives’ curing kinetics with a DSC.
The bulking or stressing of fiber ribbons in the packaged waveguide-based components is associated with the performance deterioration of the components. The current industrial practice of avoiding the problem is to keep fiber ribbons movable regarding the packaging house. This approach, however, makes the component vulnerable to external load during component handling and does not complied with Telcordia test standard. A special technology based on incorporating a soft gasket was developed in our laboratory to solve the problem. The gasket is made of low-modulus elastomer foam with certain thickness and is positioned between the packaging house and strain relief boots, on which fiber ribbons are bonded with an in-house developed epoxy adhesive that has passed Telcordia test. In the packaged components, any effect caused by the mismatched coefficient of thermal expansion between the packaging house and fiber ribbons are compensated by the gasket, and no bulking or stressing occurs in the fiber ribbons. Meanwhile, since the fiber ribbons are firmly bonded to the strain relief boots, any external force applied on the fiber ribbons is transferred to the packaging house, instead of the fiber arrays and waveguide dies. The packaged component with this technology meets the Telcordia test standard and is cost-effective.
Variable optical attenuators (VOAs) play an important role in the wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) telecommunication networks. It is often necessary to use VOAs to perform functions as: (a) Dynamic channel balancing at MUX location; (b) Dynamic channel leveling at add/drop sites; (c) Receiver overload control; and (d) Optical channel blocking. In order to minimize the overall costs and optimize the performances, VOAs are sometimes required to be integrated with other optical components, such as a MUX/DEMUX, a detector array and etc. Planar lightwave circuit (PLC) technology is the ideal technology platform for realizing this type of large-scale integrations.
In this work, we propose a VOA design based on a simple straight polymer channel waveguide layout in order to provide the optimal optical performances with very low electric power consumptions and high fabrication yield. The fabrication of the proposed design will be in compatible with other polymer components on the same substrate. It is found from the simulation results that the design can offer high attenuation level with very low electrical power consumption. In addition, the simulation results demonstrate that the proposed VOA design can achieve very low polarization dependent loss and very good spectra flatness. All these performances would make the proposed VOA design very suitable for large-scale integration applications.
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