Through the efforts to fuse planar optics and microfluidics in order to produce dye lasers, biosensors, trapping and cell sorting device, we can notice the rising interest in optofluidics since early and mid 2000's. However mass production of these devices heavily relies on fast and easy patterning of the constituent material. PDMS, being one of these materials, gained an added value because of its elasticity, hydrophobicity and permeability to gaz. Nonetheless, these specifications are not convenient for all types of applications. The growing capability to use Hybrid Organic-Inorganic materials for the fabrication of integrated optics components and microfluidic channels is what makes this class of materials an ideal candidate for this integration. This work aims to implement, on the same chip, an optical and a microfluidic layer using Sol-Gel processing of Organic-Inorganic materials. The interest in this vertical integration arises from the need to manipulate the fluid in the microchannels using evanescent field optical pressure.
Commercial Applications of Sol-Gel-Derived Hybrid Materials