Research

Our current research interests focus on the integration of Nanophotonics and Microfluidics, i.e. Optofluidics, for biomedical applications. In optofluidic devices, not only the microfluidic liquid manipulation enables novel nanophotonic properties, but also the on-chip integration of photonic and microfluidic functions can lead to highly compact and integrated biosensing devices. Compared with their solid-state equivalents, liquid materials offer some unique advantages for photonic applications such as thermal management, self healing, and most importantly the ability to modify or replace functional components in the finished devices. Yet until recently liquids were not widely used in photonics due to the lack of technology to accurately control them at small length scales. Recent advancements in microfluidics and nanofabrication have completely changed the situation. The ever-shrinking size of microfluidic devices has made it possible to manipulate liquid at length scales comparable to or even smaller than the wavelength of light, allowing the realization of liquid-based adaptive nanophotonic devices. At the same time, there is a growing need to integrate photonic components with fluidic functions on the same substrate to build miniature optical sensing, imaging and spectroscopy devices for medical diagnostics, environmental monitoring and bioterrorism detection. As a nascent field, Optofluidics offers many opportunities awaiting exploration and holds great potentials in helping to realize the long-sought dream of integrated lab-on-a-chip systems, i.e. Medical Tricorders.