Issue 20, 2020

Smart bio-gel optofluidic Mach–Zehnder interferometers multiphoton-lithographically customized with chemo-mechanical-opto transduction and bio-triggered degradation

Abstract

Stimulus-responsive optical polymers, especially gels, are enabling new-concept energy-transducing “smart” optics. Full exploitation of their molecule-derived tuning and integration with traditional micro/nano-optics/optoelectronics rely on the implementation of devices by advanced “intelligent” micro/nano-manufacturing technologies, especially photolithographies with wide compatibility. In light of the increasing need for an organic combination of smart optical materials and digital micro/nano-manufacturing, novel “smart” optical micro-switches, namely, stimulus-actuated Mach–Zehnder interferometers as a proof-of-concept demonstration, were prototyped with protein-based hydrogels via aqueous multiphoton femtosecond laser direct writing (FsLDW). Protein-based Mach–Zehnder-interferometric smart optical devices here display a morphological quality sufficient for optical applications (average surface roughness ≤ ∼20 nm), nano-precision three-dimensional (3D) geometry of these millimeter-scale devices and purposely structured distribution of photo-crosslinking degree. Moreover, the device configuration was customized with unbalanced branches in which meticulous stimulus-responsive ability can be realized by simply tuning the surrounding chemical stimuli (i.e., Na2SO4 concentration here). The “heterogeneous” configuration with unbalanced branches (i.e., different optical and stimulus-responsive features) exhibits as-designed “smart” switching of propagated near-infrared light (∼808 nm). These capabilities, along with total biodegradation, indicate the application promise of this gel-based optic construction strategy towards novel “intelligent”, bio/eco-friendly, self-tuning or sensing photonic integrated systems like optofluidics.

Graphical abstract: Smart bio-gel optofluidic Mach–Zehnder interferometers multiphoton-lithographically customized with chemo-mechanical-opto transduction and bio-triggered degradation

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
15 Jul 2020
Accepted
01 Sep 2020
First published
01 Sep 2020

Lab Chip, 2020,20, 3815-3823

Smart bio-gel optofluidic Mach–Zehnder interferometers multiphoton-lithographically customized with chemo-mechanical-opto transduction and bio-triggered degradation

Z. Hou, Y. Sun, Q. Li, X. Fan and R. Cheng, Lab Chip, 2020, 20, 3815 DOI: 10.1039/D0LC00718H

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