Enhanced two photon fluorescence microfluidic sensor based on dual cladding photonic-crystal fiber*

The architecture of photonic-crystal fibers (PCFs) suggests a variety of strategies for optical sensing. A combination of TPA approaches with capabilities of fiber-optic probes offers numerous advantages, suggesting a convenient format for beam delivery, facilitating manipulation of excitation radiation, and allowing this excitation to be applied locally and selectively. In this work, we show that a PCF with a special design can realize different protocols of optical sensing, simultaneously serving, whenever necessary, for the collection and on-line monitoring of liquid-phase samples. Specially designed PCF is shown to substantially increase the guided-wave luminescent response from molecules excited through two-photon absorption (TPA) by femtosecond near-infrared laser pulses. Biophotonic implications of this waveguide TPL-response enhancement include fiber-format solutions for online monitoring of drug delivery and drug activation, interrogation of neural activity, biosensing, endoscopy, and locally controlled singlet oxygen generation in photodynamic therapy.