Highly Reproducible, Isotropic Optofluidic Laser Based on Hollow Optical Fiber

We report a reproducible optofluidic laser (OFL) for multichannel biochemical sensing. A hollow optical fiber (HOF) serves as both microring resonator for lasing and microfluidic channel. The lasing mechanism is analyzed in spectral domain. Thanks to the precise control of the fiber geometry and the rotational symmetry, the HOF-OFL emission is uniformly distributed in the angular direction (σ = 0.6%) and can be employed conveniently for disposable or arrayed use. An array of ten OFLs is demonstrated with good reproducibility ( σ = 3.9%) in laser threshold. The arrayed sensing capability of the OFL is also investigated. The HOF-OFLs are highly reproducible, easy to integrate in chip-scale, and have great potential for biochemical detection.