  Lab-on-a-Chip (LoC) devices combining microfluidic analyte provision with
integrated optical analysis are highly desirable for several applications in
biological oder medical sciences. While the microfluidic approach is already
broadly adressed, yet some work needs to be done regarding the integrated
optics, especially provision of highly integrable laser sources. Polymer
optical fiber (POF) lasers represent an alignment-free, rugged and flexible
technology platform. Additionally, POFs are intrinsically compatible to polymer
microfluidic devices. Home-made Rhodamine B (RB) doped POFs were characterized
with experimental and numerical parameter studies on their lasing potential.
High output energies of 1.65mJ, high slope efficiencies of 56% and
50%-lifetimes of < 900 k shots were extracted from RB:POFs. Furthermore,
RB:POFs show broad spectral tunability over several tens of nanometers. A route
to optimize polymer fiber lasers is revealed providing functionality for a
broad range of LoC devices. Spectral tunability, high efficiencies and output
energies enable a broad field of LoC applications.
