On-Demand Fully-Enclosed Superhydrophobic-Optofluidic Device Enabled by High Precision Microstereolithography

Superhydrophobic surface-based optofluidics have been introduced to biosensors and unconventional optics with unique advantages such as low light loss and power consumption. However, most of these platforms were made with planar-like micro- and nano-structures, which may cause bonding issues and resulting in significant waveguide loss. Here, we introduce a fully-enclosed superhydrophobic-based optofluidics system, enabled by a one-step high precision microstereolithography procedure. Various micro-structured cladding designs with a feature size down to 100 m were studied and a "T-type" overhang design exhibits the lowest optical loss, regardless of the excitation wavelength. Surprisingly, the optical loss of superhydrophobic-based optofluidics is not solely decided by the solid area fraction at the solid/water/air interface, but also the cross-section shape and the effective cladding layer composition. We show that this fully-enclosed optofluidic system can be used for CRISPR-labeled quantum dot quantification, intended for in vitro and in vivo CRISPR therapeutics.