Insight
Nature 442, 381-386 (27 July 2006) | doi:10.1038/nature05060; Published online 26 July 2006
Developing optofluidic technology through the fusion of microfluidics and optics
Demetri Psaltis1, Stephen R. Quake2 and Changhuei Yang1
Abstract
We describe devices in which optics and fluidics are used synergistically to synthesize novel functionalities. Fluidic replacement or modification leads to reconfigurable optical systems, whereas the implementation of optics through the microfluidic toolkit gives highly compact and integrated devices. We categorize optofluidics according to three broad categories of interactions: fluid–solid interfaces, purely fluidic interfaces and colloidal suspensions. We describe examples of optofluidic devices in each category.
