Optofluidics is an emerging field that involves the use of fluids to modify optical properties and the use of optical devices to detect flowing media. Ultimately, its value is highly dependent on the successful integration of photonic integrated circuits with microfluidic or nanofluidic systems. Handbook of Optofluidics provides a snapshot of the state of the field, captures current trends, and gives insight into the technology of tomorrow, which will enable researchers to tackle challenges and opportunities that it can uniquely answer.
Divided into three sections, this comprehensive resource begins by introducing the scientific foundations that contribute to optofluidics. It details the connections to related research areas and reveals the scientific influences currently shaping the design and function of optofluidic systems. It provides brief reviews of those established fields from which optofluidics has evolved, putting special emphasis on how they currently intersect.
This introductory material provides a basis for understanding the chapters that follow. The second section explores the synthesis of fundamental concepts to create novel devices, specifically those with optical properties that are manipulated by fluids. A main theme that runs through this part is the dynamic reconfigurability made possible by flowing and reshaping fluids. The final section looks to future applications of the field, presenting recent developments in particle detection and manipulation primarily being developed for biosensing and biomedical applications.
Enhanced by thematic connections throughout the chapters that help define the field, this volume is a concise reference for the growing optofluidics community and is poised to provide a stepping stone for continued research in an area that holds promise for a myriad of applications.