On-Chip Infrared Spectroscopic Sensing: Redefining The Benefits Of Scaling

Keywords

Chemical sensors; infrared sensors; optical resonators; optical sensors; photothermal effects; spectroscopy

Abstract

Infrared (IR) spectroscopy is widely recognized as a gold standard technique for chemical analysis. Recent strides in photonic integration technologies offer a promising route towards enabling miniaturized, rugged platforms for IR spectroscopic analysis. Here we show that simple size scaling by replacing bulky discrete optical elements used in conventional IR spectroscopy with their on-chip counterparts is not a viable route for on-chip infrared spectroscopic sensing, as it cripples the system performance due to the limited optical path length accessible on a chip. In this context, we discuss two novel photonic sensor designs uniquely suited for microphotonic integration. We leverage strong optical and thermal confinement in judiciously designed microcavities to circumvent the thermal diffusion and optical diffraction limits in conventional photothermal sensors and achieve parts-per-billion level gas molecule limit of detection. In the second example, an on-chip spectrometer design with Fellgett's advantage is proposed for the first time. The design enables sub-nm spectral resolution on a millimeter-sized, fully packaged chip without mechanical moving parts.

Publication Date

3-1-2017

Publication Title

IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics

Volume

23

Issue

2

Number of Pages

340-349

Document Type

Article

Personal Identifier

scopus

DOI Link

https://doi.org/10.1109/JSTQE.2016.2609142

Socpus ID

84994759946 (Scopus)

Source API URL

https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/84994759946

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