A femtosecond laser is used to fabricate both microfluidic channels and high quality optical waveguides, intersecting each other on a single glass substrate. Fluorescence in fluids filling the microfluidic channels has been selectively excited in several points by coupling light in the optical waveguides. Waveguide-microchannel integration opens several prospects for in situ sensing in lab-on-a-chip devices.

We report on the fabrication of microfluidic channels in fused silica using femtosecond laser irradiation followed by chemical etching. Using an astigmatically shaped beam, we achieve microchannels with circular cross section and length up to 1.5mm. We use the same femtosecond laser, with different irradiation parameters, to fabricate high quality optical waveguides on the same substrate. The integration of microchannels and waveguides will enable a forthcoming class of biophotonic sensors.

We report on the fabrication, by a 26 MHz stretched-cavity femtosecond Ti:sapphire oscillator, of optical waveguides in different glass substrates, and their optical characterization. Operation of these waveguides in the telecom range at 1.55 microm is demonstrated. Digital holography microscopy is used to measure their refractive index profile. The results evidence a strong dependence of the fabrication process on the glass matrix.

Microfluidic channels and Bragg Grating Waveguides (BGWs) were simultaneously fabricated inside fused silica glass by means of femtosecond laser exposure followed by chemical etching. Evanescent field penetration of the waveguide mode into the parallel microfluidic channel induced Bragg resonant wavelength shifts to enable refractive index characterization of the fluidic medium in the 1 to 1.452 range. Laser exposure was optimized to fabricate devices with optically smooth channel walls and narrow Bragg resonances for high sensing response at 1560 nm wavelength. Reference gratings were also employed in the optical circuit for temperature and strain compensation. These devices open new directions for optical sensing in three-dimensional optofluidic and reactor microsystems.