Sensors 2018, 18(11), 4061; https://doi.org/10.3390/s18114061
A Tellurium Oxide Microcavity Resonator Sensor Integrated On-Chip with a Silicon Waveguide
Department of Engineering Physics, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON L8S 4L7, Canada
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Received: 28 September 2018 / Revised: 31 October 2018 / Accepted: 9 November 2018 / Published: 21 November 2018
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Resonator Sensors 2018)
Abstract
We report on thermal and evanescent field sensing from a tellurium oxide optical microcavity resonator on a silicon photonics platform. The on-chip resonator structure is fabricated using silicon-photonics-compatible processing steps and consists of a silicon-on-insulator waveguide next to a circular trench that is coated in a tellurium oxide film. We characterize the device’s sensitivity by both changing the temperature and coating water over the chip and measuring the corresponding shift in the cavity resonance wavelength for different tellurium oxide film thicknesses. We obtain a thermal sensitivity of up to 47 pm/°C and a limit of detection of 2.2 × 10−3 RIU for a device with an evanescent field sensitivity of 10.6 nm/RIU. These results demonstrate a promising approach to integrating tellurium oxide and other novel microcavity materials into silicon microphotonic circuits for new sensing applications. View Full-TextKeywords:
photonic sensors; optical microcavities; resonators; silicon photonics
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Frankis, H.C.; Su, D.; Bonneville, D.B.; Bradley, J.D.B. A Tellurium Oxide Microcavity Resonator Sensor Integrated On-Chip with a Silicon Waveguide. Sensors 2018, 18, 4061.
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