Laser source for biosensors: First time organic lasers integrated into a silicon photonic chipIn the

Laser source for biosensors: First time organic lasers integrated into a silicon photonic chipIn the area of nano photonics, scientists for the first time succeeded in integrating a laser with an organic gain medium on a silicon photonic chip. This approach is of enormous potential for low-cost biosensors that might be used for near-patient diagnosis once and without any sterilization expenditure similar to today’s strips for measuring blood sugar. The researchers now present the new laser in Nature Communications.This is the first time organic lasers were integrated on a single silicon photonic chip, Christian Koos, researcher of KIT’s Institute of Photonics and Quantum Electronics (IPQ) and Institute of Microstructure Technology (IMT), reports. “The main advantage of the lasers consists in the fact that production of large series is associated with low costs. In the long term, manufacture at a price of some cents per laser might be feasible.”One of the major challenges associated with the fabrication of optical microchips consists in integrating a number of different components on one substrate at low cost. For some years now, it has been possible to produce optical components from silicon. This so-called silicon photonics uses highly developed nanotechnological fabrication processes of microelectronics and allows for the inexpensive production of large numbers of high-performance photonic components. Such components of fractions of a micrometer in size can contribute to making information technology more energy-efficient and are highly suited for compact biosensors.Read more. -- source link

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