Abstract
Integrated optical measurements on gases and aqueous solutions with refractive indices less than approximately 1.5 face two major obstacles. On one hand, ways need to be found to incorporate these non-solid materials into a solid-state structure, which leads to issues such as introduction and extraction of samples as well as sealing issues for both gases and liquids. On the other hand, most gases and aqueous solutions have a refractive index on the order of 1 to 1.3 in the visible to near-infrared wavelength range whereas typical dielectric materials for integrated optics have refractive indices of 1.4-3.5. Therefore, these non-solids do not lend themselves naturally to the fabrication of optical waveguide structures in which the light would propagate in the gas or liquid specimen because in typical waveguide structures light propagation occurs in the high-index layers. Integrated optical sensing devices for gases and liquids, however, would benefit strongly from an ability to propagate light in the low-index region as the interaction length and hence the sensitivity can be significantly increased. This is desirable both for optically thin gases as well as for aqueous liquids containing possibly few molecules of interest. By designing a platform for propagation in low-index materials, applications such as gas sensing or microfluidic labs on a chip with improved characteristics can be built.
© 2003 Optical Society of America
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