Abstract
Using the optical feedback interferometry (OFI) technique, we demonstrated a miniaturized and compact sensor system based on a dedicated optical source for flowmetry at the micro-scale. In the system, polymer microlenses were integrated directly on a VCSEL (vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser) chip and the microfluidic channel chip surface using polymer-based micro-fabrication technologies. In particular, at a post-process stage, we integrated a collimation lens on a VCSEL chip of small dimensions (200 µm × 200 µm × 150 µm). This process was enabled by the soft-printing of dry thick resist films and through direct laser writing technology. We performed flow rate measurements using this new compact system, with a conventional bulk glass lens configuration for system performance evaluation. A maximum 33 dB signal-to-noise ratio was achieved from this novel ultra-compact system. To our knowledge, this is the highest signal level achieved by existing OFI based flowmetry sensors.