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Integrated Spectrometers for Lab-on-a-Chip Devices

  • Author / Creator
    Azmayesh-Fard, Seyed M.
  • Miniaturization of spectrometers for microfluidic applications is currently an intense area of research. This thesis is devoted to the design, fabrication, and testing of a planar optical microspectrometer. Optical microspectrometers are potentially important candidates for noninvasive detection and identification of cells and other biological material. The focus of this study was to improve the functionality of the present lab-on-a-chip devices, through monolithic integration of microfluidic channels, optical waveguides and diffraction gratings on a single disposable opto-bio-chip. One important device for spectral analysis of cells and other analytes is the diffraction grating and most fluorescence detection systems reported to date use off-chip bulk optical gratings. Here, an integrated approach based on a planar curved focusing transmission grating fabricated together with microfluidic channels, optical waveguides and a collimating lens in a single layer of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is described. Layers of lower-index PDMS were bonded to this layer to provide optical and fluidic confinement. Because of the index contrast with the outer layers, light can be confined in the central “optofluidic” layer, so that propagation of light in the guiding (core) layer is governed by total internal reflection. The fabricated microspectrometer was tested using a variety of light sources including three different lasers and a broadband white light source. The optical performance of the fabricated microspectrometer closely matches the design specifications.
    In summary I have made the following contributions: i) developed a new optofluidic integration process in PDMS (Chapter 5). ii) developed a set of numerical tools for analyzing individual elements of a spectrometer such as planar gratings and lenses or the device as a whole (Chapter 3). iii) fabricated and tested a novel, curved focusing transmission grating, and explored its use for fluorescence spectroscopy (Chapter 6). iv) developed a novel dynamic strategy for sensing using the diffracted orders of the grating (Chapter 7).

  • Subjects / Keywords
  • Graduation date
    Fall 2013
  • Type of Item
    Thesis
  • Degree
    Doctor of Philosophy
  • DOI
    https://doi.org/10.7939/R33X83S53
  • License
    This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.
  • Language
    English
  • Institution
    University of Alberta
  • Degree level
    Doctoral
  • Department
  • Specialization
    • Photonics and Plasmas
  • Supervisor / co-supervisor and their department(s)
  • Examining committee members and their departments
    • Van, Vien (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
    • Dennison, Christopher (Mechanical Engineering)
    • Fedosejevs, Robert (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
    • Chen, Kevin P. (University of Pittsburgh)
    • Pramanik, Sandipan (Electrical and Computer Engineering)
    • DeCorby, Ray G. (Electrical and Computer Engineering)