
Proceedings Paper
Perforated Mach-Zehnder interferometer evanescent field sensor in silicon-on-insulatorFormat | Member Price | Non-Member Price |
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Paper Abstract
This paper investigates an evanescent field refractive index sensor based on a planar waveguide silicon-on-insulator
(SOI) unbalanced Mach-Zehnder interferometer structure. The key element used for enhancing the sensitivity of the
device is a waveguide structure that contains perforations through its core guiding layer. Three-dimensional numerical
solution of the wave equation was used to determine optimal device dimensions and model device behavior. Devices
were then fabricated in 3.4 μm thick SOI material and optically characterized. It was found that the perforations in the
waveguide increased its sensitivity to refractive index changes in the cladding by a factor of two. The sensitivity of the
device, which contained a 100 μm long sensing region, was estimated to be 2.2 nm shift in the interferometer output
spectrum per unit refractive index change of the cladding. It is expected that further optimization of the perforated
waveguide structure will result in a significant increase in sensitivity.
Paper Details
Date Published: 26 October 2007
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 6796, Photonics North 2007, 679621 (26 October 2007); doi: 10.1117/12.778899
Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 6796:
Photonics North 2007
John Armitage, Editor(s)
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 6796, Photonics North 2007, 679621 (26 October 2007); doi: 10.1117/12.778899
Show Author Affiliations
Ksenia Yadav, Carleton Univ. (Canada)
N. Garry Tarr, Carleton Univ. (Canada)
N. Garry Tarr, Carleton Univ. (Canada)
Philip D. Waldron, National Research Council Canada (Canada)
Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 6796:
Photonics North 2007
John Armitage, Editor(s)
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