Optofluidic device based on a 3D printed chip and a sensing tilted fiber Bragg gratings

Abstract

In this work an optical solution to characterize optofluidic devices is proposed. The fluidic chip was manufactured via 3D printing and it is able to produce a stream of water droplets in oil. The optical characterization was realized using a Tilted Fiber Bragg Grating (TFBG) embedded in the chip and whose cladding modes could vary between guided and leak. This is the first time a fully integrated all-optical scheme is demonstrated to monitor a droplet generator fluidic device.