Optofluidic Biochips

In this chapter, we discuss the contributions of femtosecond laser micromachining to the fields of lab-on-chip and optofluidics. We show how femtosecord laser irradiation can be used to fabricate directly buried optical waveguides and, if followed by chemical etching, 3D microfluidic channels. We discuss the integration of waveguides and channels and present examples of integration of femtosecond laser written photonic sensors in microfluidic devices fabricated either by standard technologies or by the same femtosecond laser source. The results pave the way to a new generation of optofluidic devices with unprecedented capabilities.