Sensors 2015, 15(9), 21500-21517; doi:10.3390/s150921500
Mach-Zehnder Interferometer Biochemical Sensor Based on Silicon-on-Insulator Rib Waveguide with Large Cross Section
1
Graduate School at Shenzhen, Tsinghua University, J209A, Tsinghua Campus, University Town of Shenzhen, Shenzhen 518055, China
2
Institute of Material, China Academy of Engineering Physics, Jiangyou 621908, China
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: W. Rudolf Seitz
Received: 18 June 2015 / Revised: 17 August 2015 / Accepted: 25 August 2015 / Published: 28 August 2015
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Micro-Optical Sensors)
Abstract
A high-sensitivity Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) biochemical sensing platform based on Silicon-in-insulator (SOI) rib waveguide with large cross section is proposed in this paper. Based on the analyses of the evanescent field intensity, the mode polarization and cross section dimensions of the SOI rib waveguide are optimized through finite difference method (FDM) simulation. To realize high-resolution MZI read-out configuration based on the SOI rib waveguide, medium-filled trenches are employed and their performances are simulated through two-dimensional finite-difference-time domain (2D-FDTD) method. With the fundamental EH-polarized mode of the SOI rib waveguide with a total rib height of 10 μm, an outside rib height of 5 μm and a rib width of 2.5 μm at the operating wavelength of 1550 nm, when the length of the sensitive window in the MZI configuration is 10 mm, a homogeneous sensitivity of 7296.6%/refractive index unit (RIU) is obtained. Supposing the resolutions of the photoelectric detectors connected to the output ports are 0.2%, the MZI sensor can achieve a detection limit of 2.74 × 10−6 RIU. Due to high coupling efficiency of SOI rib waveguide with large cross section with standard single-mode glass optical fiber, the proposed MZI sensing platform can be conveniently integrated with optical fiber communication systems and (opto-) electronic systems, and therefore has the potential to realize remote sensing, in situ real-time detecting, and possible applications in the internet of things. View Full-TextKeywords:
Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI); Silicon-on-insulator (SOI); biochemical sensor; rib waveguide; finite difference-time domain (FDTD) method
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. (CC BY 4.0).
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MDPI and ACS Style
Yuan, D.; Dong, Y.; Liu, Y.; Li, T. Mach-Zehnder Interferometer Biochemical Sensor Based on Silicon-on-Insulator Rib Waveguide with Large Cross Section. Sensors 2015, 15, 21500-21517.