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Review

Nature Photonics 1, 106–114 (1 February 2007) | doi:10.1038/nphoton.2006.96

Integrated optofluidics: A new river of light

C. Monat , P. Domachuk & B. J. Eggleton

The realization of miniaturized optofluidic platforms offers potential for achieving more functional and more compact devices. Such integrated systems bring fluid and light together and exploit their microscale interaction for a large variety of applications. The high sensitivity of compact microphotonic devices can generate effective microfluidic sensors, with integration capabilities. By turning the technology around, the exploitation of fluid properties holds the promise of highly flexible, tunable or reconfigurable microphotonic devices. We overview some of the exciting developments so far.