Recent Advances in Optofluidic Laser for Biochemical Sensing

Optofluidic laser (OFL) is an emerging technology that integrates microfluidics, optical microcavity, and the liquid gain medium. Thanks to the strong light-matter interaction in the laser cavity, OFL could perform bio-chemical sensing with high performance. Here, we review the recent advances in optofluidic lasers and highlight their applications in biochemical analysis with unique properties. We introduce the physical mechanisms as well as the structure and material employed in the optofluidic laser to achieve high sensitivity, disposability, fast response and high throughput. In addition, we discuss the cross properties between these performance indicators to show how to achieve overall high performance. The effects of new materials including both gain materials and enhancer materials in laser-based sensors are briefly discussed. Furthermore, the comparison with other optical biochemical sensors and the prospects of OFLs are also given.