Issue 1, 2018

Embedding liquid lasers within or around aqueous microfluidic droplets

Abstract

In this paper, we demonstrate the incorporation of dye-based liquid lasers within or around flowing aqueous microfluidic droplets. In particular, we use dye solutions in benzyl alcohol, and either disperse an ensemble of small (∼20 μm) lasing droplets within large (∼500 μm) aqueous droplets flowing in a simple glass capillary-based microfluidic device, or ‘wrap’ a thin (∼10 μm) lasing benzyl alcohol shell around larger (∼560 μm) microfluidic aqueous droplets. We experimentally and theoretically characterize the lasing behavior in both cases, which is supported by whispering-gallery mode (WGM) optical resonances at the droplet interfaces. We showcase a simple application of our method, which highlights the advantages of having embedded, spatially segregated laser sources within a droplet containing a model analyte solution. With this method, each microfluidic droplet now functions not only as an isolated experiment flask, but is also capable of on drop sensing that exploits WGM-based lasing, thus expanding the possibilities for online monitoring of biophysical/biochemical processes and sensitive detection of biomolecules in droplet-based microfluidics.

Graphical abstract: Embedding liquid lasers within or around aqueous microfluidic droplets

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
05 Jul 2017
Accepted
22 Nov 2017
First published
23 Nov 2017

Lab Chip, 2018,18, 197-205

Embedding liquid lasers within or around aqueous microfluidic droplets

L. Zheng, M. Zhi, Y. Chan and S. A. Khan, Lab Chip, 2018, 18, 197 DOI: 10.1039/C7LC00701A

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