Mid-Infrared Opto-nanofluidics for on-Chip Chemical Sensing Conference Paper uri icon

abstract

  • A mid-infrared (mid-IR) label-free chemical sensor was developed using optonanofluidics consisting of a Si-liquid-Si slot-structure. A broadband mid-IR lightwave can be strongly confined within a nanofluidic capillary by utilizing the large refractive index contrast (n ~ 2) between the liquid core waveguide and the Si cladding. Through an optical-field enhancement together with a direct interaction between the probe light and the analyte, the sensitivity for chemical detection is increased by 50 times when compared to evanescent-wave sensing. This spectral characterization distinguished several common organic liquids (e.g., n-bromohexane, toluene, isopropanol) accurately, and could determine the ratio of chemical species (e.g., acetonitrile and ethanol) at low concentration (< 5 L/mL) in a mixture through spectral scanning over their characteristic mid-IR absorption peaks. The combination of CMOS-compatible planar mid-IR microphotonics, and a high-throughput nanofluidic sensor system, provides a unique platform for chemical detection. 2014 OSA.

name of conference

  • Advanced Photonics for Communications

published proceedings

  • Advanced Photonics for Communications

author list (cited authors)

  • Lin, P. T., Kwok, S. W., Lin, H., Singh, V., Tan, D., Kimerling, L. C., Whitesides, G. M., & Agarwal, A.

citation count

  • 0

complete list of authors

  • Lin, Pao Tai||Kwok, Sen Wai||Lin, Hao-Yu Greg||Singh, Vivek||Tan, Dawn TH||Kimerling, Lionel C||Whitesides, George M||Agarwal, Anu

publication date

  • January 2014