Microfabricated integrated circuits revolutionized computation by vastly reducing the space, labor, and time required for calculations. Microfluidic systems hold similar promise for the large-scale automation of chemistry and biology, suggesting the possibility of numerous experiments performed rapidly and in parallel, while consuming little reagent. While it is too early to tell whether such a vision will be realized, significant progress has been achieved, and various applications of significant scientific and practical interest have been developed. Here a review of the physics of small volumes (nanoliters) of fluids is presented, as parametrized by a series of dimensionless numbers expressing the relative importance of various physical phenomena. Specifically, this review explores the Reynolds number Re, addressing inertial effects; the Peclet number Pe, which concerns convective and diffusive transport; the capillary number Ca expressing the importance of interfacial tension; the Deborah, Weissenberg, and elasticity numbers De, Wi, and El, describing elastic effects due to deformable microstructural elements like polymers; the Grashof and Rayleigh numbers Gr and Ra, describing density-driven flows; and the Knudsen number, describing the importance of noncontinuum molecular effects. Furthermore, the long-range nature of viscous flows and the small device dimensions inherent in microfluidics mean that the influence of boundaries is typically significant. A variety of strategies have been developed to manipulate fluids by exploiting boundary effects; among these are electrokinetic effects, acoustic streaming, and fluid-structure interactions. The goal is to describe the physics behind the rich variety of fluid phenomena occurring on the nanoliter scale using simple scaling arguments, with the hopes of developing an intuitive sense for this occasionally counterintuitive world.

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Microfluidics: Fluid physics at the nanoliter scale

Electrowetting has become one of the most widely used tools for manipulating tiny amounts of liquids on surfaces. Applications range from 'lab-on-a-chip' devices to adjustable lenses and new kinds of electronic displays. In the present article, we review the recent progress in this rapidly growing field including both fundamental and applied aspects. We compare the various approaches used to derive the basic electrowetting equation, which has been shown to be very reliable as long as the applied voltage is not too high. We discuss in detail the origin of the electrostatic forces that induce both contact angle reduction and the motion of entire droplets. We examine the limitations of the electrowetting equation and present a variety of recent extensions to the theory that account for distortions of the liquid surface due to local electric fields, for the finite penetration depth of electric fields into the liquid, as well as for finite conductivity effects in the presence of AC voltage. The most prominent failure of the electrowetting equation, namely the saturation of the contact angle at high voltage, is discussed in a separate section. Recent work in this direction indicates that a variety of distinct physical effects?rather than a unique one?are responsible for the saturation phenomenon, depending on experimental details. In the presence of suitable electrode patterns or topographic structures on the substrate surface, variations of the contact angle can give rise not only to continuous changes of the droplet shape, but also to discontinuous morphological transitions between distinct liquid morphologies. The dynamics of electrowetting are discussed briefly. Finally, we give an overview of recent work aimed at commercial applications, in particular in the fields of adjustable lenses, display technology, fibre optics, and biotechnology-related microfluidic devices.

/pdf/electrowetting-from-basics-to-applications-14e6zoxse5.pdf

Electrowetting: from basics to applications

An overview of analog microwave photonics will be presented. The performance requirements for externally-modulated analog microwave photonic links will be reviewed with specific emphasis placed on modulator efficiency, laser noise, detected photocurrent, and link linearity.

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel5/6387506/6403300/06403360.pdf

Microwave photonics

The very broad bandwidth of low-loss optical transmission in a single-mode fiber and the recent improvements in single-frequency tunable lasers have stimulated significant advances in dense wavelength division multiplexed optical networks This technology, including wavelength-sensitive optical switching and routing elements and passive optical elements, has made it possible to consider the use of wavelength as another dimension, in addition to time and space, in network and switch design The independence of optical signals at different wavelengths makes this a natural choice for multiple-access networks, for applications which benefit from shared transmission media, and for networks in which very large throughputs are required Recent progress in multiwavelength networks are reviewed, some of the limitations which affect the performance of such networks are discussed, and examples of several network and switch proposals based on these ideas are presented Discussed also are critical technologies that are essential to progress in this field >

Dense wavelength division multiplexing networks: principles and applications

The current status of lithium-niobate external-modulator technology is reviewed with emphasis on design, fabrication, system requirements, performance, and reliability. The technology meets the performance and reliability requirements of current 2.5-, 10-, and 40-Gb/s digital communication systems, as well as CATV analog systems. The current trend in device topology is toward higher data rates and increased levels of integration. In particular, multiple high-speed modulation functions, such as 10-Gb/s return-to-zero pulse generation plus data modulation, have been achieved in a single device.

/pdf/a-review-of-lithium-niobate-modulators-for-fiber-optic-1s6rskx8q3.pdf

A review of lithium niobate modulators for fiber-optic communications systems

We describe the fabrication and characterization of optical waveguides formed in LiNbO3 by proton exchange in benzoic acid melts at 200–250 °C. Proton exchange, in LiNbO3 the replacement of lithium ions with protons, takes place when the substrate is immersed in the molten acid. We observe a surface increase in the refractive index of 0.12, for the extraordinary polarization only, with a step function index profile. This is the highest index increase obtainable to date for LiNbO3. Measured diffusion rates for x‐cut crystals are 1.37 μm2/h at T = 249 °C and 0.37 μm2/h at T = 217 °C, so that very deep guides can be formed in short times. Diffusion is somewhat slower in the z direction. The process as described is not useful for y‐cut crystals, since it damgaes this surface. Losses, measured on x‐cut samples, were <0.5 dB/cm. All measurements were made at 0.633 μm.

Proton exchange for high‐index waveguides in LiNbO3

Using a unique Ti:LiNbO/sub 3/ modulator, the value of the modulation chirp parameter that minimizes the transmission power penalty caused by fiber chromatic dispersion was experimentally identified. System experiments at 5 Gb/s using nonreturn-to-zero (NRZ) amplitude-shift-keyed (ASK) transmission with direct detection reception are discussed, and the optimum values of the modulation chirp parameter versus distance for transmission at 1.5 mu m wavelength over fibre having zero dispersion at 1.3 mu m are identified. 5 Gb/s NRZ transmission was achieved through distances of 128, 192, and 256 km of conventional fiber while incurring dispersion penalties of -0.5, 0.1, and 1.1 dB respectively, by operating at the quantum chirp value. >

Dispersion penalty reduction using an optical modulator with adjustable chirp

We report the intensity modulation of an optical carrier at frequencies as high as 40 GHz using a Ti:LiNbO3 optical waveguide switch. A self-electrooptic sampling technique is used to observe the modulation.

Optical intensity modulation to 40 GHz using a waveguide electro‐optic switch

We report a wavelength-division-multiplexed (WDM) source in which a combination of a periodically driven Mach-Zehnder modulator and a nonlinear fiber are used to generate an optical spectrum that consists of several wavelength components precisely spaced by 64 GHz (>0.5 nm). The 13 strongest spectral components are within a 10-dB optical power range and their performance as channel sources in a WDM transmitter have been evaluated. We also propose and demonstrate a technique to generate an optical spectrum in which the separation between the major components is four times the modulator drive frequency.

A multiwavelength source having precise channel spacing for WDM systems

Homodyne detection of 4-Gb/s pilot-carrier binary-phase-shift-keyed (BPSK) optical signals using external-cavity semiconductor lasers synchronized by a linear phase-locked loop is discussed. A 2/sup 15/-1 pseudorandom binary sequence (PRBS) has been transmitted through a short fiber with a receiver sensitivity of -44.2 dBm or 72 photons/bit. After transmission through 167 km of standard single-mode fiber, the sensitivity is -43.6 dBm or 83 photons/bit. A balanced PIN/HEMT transimpedance receiver which has a 3-dB bandwidth from 100 kHz to 10.1 GHz and an average equivalent input noise current of 10.8 pA/ square root Hz is used. >

/pdf/1-gbit-s-psk-homodyne-transmission-system-using-phase-locked-48hfekyhcf.pdf

J.J. Veselka

Papers

Proton exchange for high‐index waveguides in LiNbO3

Dispersion penalty reduction using an optical modulator with adjustable chirp

Optical intensity modulation to 40 GHz using a waveguide electro‐optic switch

A multiwavelength source having precise channel spacing for WDM systems

1 Gbit/s PSK homodyne transmission system using phase-locked semiconductor lasers