Reconfigurable Integrated Optofluidic Droplet Laser Arrays

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Abstract
Optofluidic lasers have been an emerging technology for the development of miniaturized light sources and biological and chemical sensors. However, most optofluidic lasers demonstrated to date are operated at the single optical cavity level, which limits their applications in high-throughput biochemical sensing, high speed wavelength switching, and on-chip spectroscopic analysis. Here we demonstrated an optofluidic droplet laser array on a silicon chip with integrated microfluidics, in which four individual droplet optical cavities are generated and controlled by a 2X2 nozzle array. Arrays of droplets with a diameter ranging from 115 μm to 475 μm can be generated, removed, and regenerated on demand. The lasing threshold of the droplet laser array is in the range of 0.63 - 2.02 μJ/mm2. An image-based lasing threshold analysis method is developed, which enables simultaneous lasing threshold measurement for all laser units within the laser array using a low-cost camera. Compared to the conventional spectrum-based threshold analysis method, the lasing threshold obtained from the image-based method showed consistent results. Our droplet laser array is a promising technology in the development of cost effective and integrated coherent light source on chip for point-of-care applications.
Funding Information
  • Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems (1554013)

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