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Optofluidic waveguides: II. Fabrication and structures

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Abstract

We review fabrication methods and common structures for optofluidic waveguides, defined as structures capable of optical confinement and transmission through fluid filled cores. Cited structures include those based on total internal reflection, metallic coatings, and interference based confinement. Configurations include optical fibers and waveguides fabricated on flat substrates (integrated waveguides). Some examples of optofluidic waveguides that are included in this review are Photonic Crystal Fibers (PCFs) and two-dimensional photonic crystal arrays, Bragg fibers and waveguides, and Anti Resonant Reflecting Optical Waveguides (ARROWs). An emphasis is placed on integrated ARROWs fabricated using a thin-film deposition process, which illustrates how optofluidic waveguides can be combined with other microfluidic elements in the creation of lab-on-a-chip devices.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge funding for this work by the National Institutes of Health (NIH/NIBIB) under grants R21EB003430 and R01EB006097, the National Science Foundation (NSF) under grant ECS-0528730, NASA/UARC Aligned Research Program (ARP) grant, a California Systemwide Biotechnology Research & Education Program Training Grant (UC-GREAT 2005-245), a National Academies Keck Futures Initiative Award (NAKFI-Nano14), and a grant from the David Huber Foundation.

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  1. Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Brigham Young University, 459 Clyde Building, Provo, UT, 84602, USA

    Aaron R. Hawkins

  2. School of Engineering, University of California-Santa Cruz, MS: SOE-2, 1156 High Street, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, USA

    Holger Schmidt

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  1. Aaron R. Hawkins
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Correspondence to Aaron R. Hawkins.

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Hawkins, A.R., Schmidt, H. Optofluidic waveguides: II. Fabrication and structures. Microfluid Nanofluid 4, 17–32 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10404-007-0194-z

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