A compact optofluidic cytometer with integrated liquid-core/PDMS-cladding waveguides

Abstract

We developed a simple method to construct liquid-core/PDMS-cladding optical waveguides through pressurized filling of dead-ended micro-channels with optical fluids. The waveguides are in the same layer as microfluidic channels which greatly simplifies device fabrication. With proper contrast between the refractive index of the core and cladding, the transmission loss of the waveguides is less than 5 dB cm⁻¹. We also developed a method to create flat and optically clear surfaces on the sides of PDMS devices in order to couple light between free-space and the waveguides embedded inside the chip. With these newly developed techniques, we make a compact flow cytometer and demonstrate the fluorescence counting of single cells at a rate of up to ∼50 cell s⁻¹ and total sample requirement of a few microlitres. This method of making liquid-core optical waveguides and flat surfaces has great potential to be integrated into many PDMS-based microsystems.