On-chip supercontinuum optical trapping and resonance excitation of microspheres

We demonstrate the simultaneous optical manipulation and analysis of microscale particles in a microfluidic channel. Whispering gallery modes (WGMs) in dielectric microspheres are excited using the evanescent field from a silicon nitride waveguide. A supercontinuum source is used to both trap the microspheres to the surface of the waveguide and excite their resonant modes. All measurements are in plane, thus providing an integrated optofluidic platform for lab-on-a-chip biosensing applications.