| The femtosecond laser has been a powerful tool to achieve laser processing and microfabrication due to the advantages of unprecedented high peak intensity, a small heat-affected zone and the capability of three dimensional fabrication on micro-/nanoscales.;In recent years, opto-microfluidics has emerged and progressed rapidly with many practical applications. Various microchannels and optical components have been integrated into a palm-size chip to accomplish optical measurements, clinical diagnostics, molecular analysis, and chemical synthesis. Opto-microfluidic devices significantly reduce reagent consumption, waste production, analysis time and labour costs.;In this dissertation, femtosecond laser microfabrication for the fabrication of opto-microfluidic devices in fused silica is studied. Femtosecond laser microfabrication on the surface and in the bulk of the samples is achieved using analysis on the influence of various fabrication parameters. Fabrication of surface/ bulk microchannels of variable specifications has been demonstrated by femtosecond laser microfabrication assisted by hydrofluoric acid etching. The feasibility of fabricating of waveguides in glass with femtosecond lasers has also been proved. Laminar flow and particle counting are accomplished with the femtosecond laser microfabricated opto-microfluidic devices. The effectiveness of these prototype opto-microfluidic devices is investigated. |
