Integration of Dye Lasers and Microfluidics for Biochemical Analysis

• Main Author: Chen, Yan
• Format: Others
• Published: 2009
• Online Access: https://thesis.library.caltech.edu/5238/4/YanThesisFinal.pdf; Chen, Yan (2009) Integration of Dye Lasers and Microfluidics for Biochemical Analysis. Dissertation (Ph.D.), California Institute of Technology. doi:10.7907/2E06-0W63. https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechETD:etd-07202008-164745 <https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechETD:etd-07202008-164745>

This dissertation describes the study of two important aspects of integration in microfluidics: optics and biochemistry. In optics integration, two types of miniaturized dye lasers, namely the solid-state polymer dye lasers and optofluidic dye lasers were demonstrated. Both of the dye lasers possess a resonant cavity with circular grating geometry, and they are suitable to serve as low-threshold, surface-emitting coherent light source in microfluidic networks. The mass production and large scale fabrication of such low-cost dye laser arrays can be realized by the well developed nanoimprint and soft lithography, making this technology attractive for various biochemical applications. In biochemistry integration, a microfluidic system was developed to fully utilize the complexity of microfluidic circuits to process single cells and extract gene expression information in a parallel manner. The work presented here explored both the optics and biochemistry integration in microfluidics, which are the key issues for further development of complete “lab-on-a-chip” systems.