Search Results (19)

Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors are widely used for strain and temperature monitoring due to their high sensitivity, compact size, electromagnetic immunity, and multiplexing capability. While conventional FBG interrogators remain bulky and costly, Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC) platforms provide a promising route toward compact, scalable, and low-power FBG interrogation. However, the choice of architecture strongly determines the achievable resolution, bandwidth, multiplexing capacity, and robustness. This review compares on-chip demodulation architectures, evaluating their performance in resolution, bandwidth, and interrogation speed. We show that the optimal architecture depends strongly on the application: AWG-based schemes excel in compact, multi-FBG readout; ring-resonator systems are highly effective for tunable filtering; and interferometric phase-domain schemes offer the highest sensitivity for dynamic strain sensing. Despite these architectural advances, practical deployment remains constrained by system-level bottlenecks. These challenges primarily include source/detector integration, fiber–chip coupling, packaging robustness, and thermal drift. Overcoming these barriers requires a shift in future development from isolated photonic-device optimization toward comprehensive, system-level co-design. Full article

This paper presents a systematic numerical investigation of a hybrid plasmonic–photonic Panda-ring antenna with an embedded gold grating, designed to enable efficient dual-mode radiation for optical and terahertz communication systems. The proposed structure integrates high-Q whispering-gallery mode (WGM) confinement in a multi-ring dielectric resonator with plasmonic out-coupling at the metal–dielectric interface, allowing controlled conversion of resonantly stored photonic energy into free-space radiation. The electromagnetic behavior is analyzed through a hierarchical structural evolution, progressing from a linear silicon waveguide to single-ring, add–drop, and Panda-ring resonator configurations. Gold is modeled using a dispersive Drude formulation with complex permittivity to accurately capture frequency-dependent plasmonic response at 1.55 µm. Power redistribution within the resonator system is described using coupled-mode theory, with coupling and loss parameters evaluated consistently from full-wave numerical simulations. Full-wave simulations using OptiFDTD and CST Studio Suite demonstrate that purely photonic resonators exhibit strong WGM confinement but negligible radiation, while plasmonic gratings alone suffer from low efficiency due to the absence of coherent photonic excitation. In contrast, the proposed hybrid Panda-ring antenna achieves stable and directive far-field radiation under WGM excitation, with a realized gain of approximately 8.05 dBi at 193.5 THz. The performance enhancement originates from synergistic hybrid SPP–WGM coupling, establishing a WGM-driven radiation mechanism suitable for Li-Fi and terahertz wireless applications. Full article

Silicon photonics has emerged as a critical enabling technology for a diverse range of applications, from high-speed data communication and computing to advanced sensing and quantum information processing. This paper provides a comprehensive review of recent progress in the foundational passive devices that underpin this technological revolution. We survey the state of the art in fundamental building blocks, including strip, rib, and silicon nitride waveguides, with a focus on achieving ultra-low propagation loss. The review details essential components for light coupling and splitting, such as grating couplers, edge couplers, multimode interference couplers, and directional couplers, citing their typical performance metrics. Key wavelength filtering and routing components, including high-Q ring resonators, Mach–Zehnder interferometers, and arrayed waveguide gratings, are analyzed. Furthermore, we provide a comparative overview of the capabilities of major photonic foundries operating on a multi-project wafer model. The paper concludes by discussing persistent challenges in packaging and polarization management, and explores future trends driven by co-packaged optics, inverse design methodologies, and the expansion of silicon photonics into new application domains. Full article

Vortex beams characterized by helical phase wavefronts enable innovative explorations of optical and physical interactions. This work experimentally realizes longitudinally polarized vortices with arbitrary topological charges in terahertz (THz) frequencies using a silicon ring resonator integrated with a second-order diffraction grating. The implemented configuration enables flexible topological charge manipulation in longitudinally polarized electric fields through the excitation of quasi-transverse-magnetic (TM) waveguide modes with different frequencies. By employing a terahertz near-field measurement system, the spatial intensity patterns and phase characteristics of emitted waves are quantitatively analyzed via a precision probe. This strategy shows promising potential for applications in particle manipulation techniques and advanced imaging technologies. Full article

Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) technology and optical resonators have significantly influenced the field of photonics for malignancy sensing. Cancer, a malignant disease, necessitates the precise and advanced diagnostic technique. This study introduces a novel approach for cancer detection utilizing a micro racetrack ring resonator (MRTRR) integrated with Subwavelength Gratings (SWGs). The grating pitch size (Λ) is 300 nm. The findings demonstrate that the SWG MRTRR achieves high Sensitivity (S) due to enhanced light matter interaction and weak mode confinement. The SWG MRTRR produces a spectral envelope as the transmission output, which eliminates the limitation of free spectral range (FSR). The ‘S’ values obtained for cervical cancer, breast cancer type-1, and breast cancer type-2 are 1825 nm/RIU, 1705.14 nm/RIU, and 1004.71 nm/RIU. The Q-factor and the intrinsic Limit of Detection (iLoD) values are 269.68, 280.78, 315.76, 3.28 × 10⁻³, 3.37 × 10⁻³, and 5.09 × 10⁻³, respectively. Full article

Integrated photonics on Silicon-On-Insulator (SOI) substrates is a well developed research field that has already significantly impacted various fields, such as quantum computing, micro sensing devices, biosensing, and high-rate communications. Although quite complex circuits can be made with such technology, everything is based on a few ’building blocks’ which are then combined to form more complex circuits. This review article provides a detailed examination of the state of the art of integrated photonic building blocks focusing on passive elements, covering fundamental principles and design methodologies. Key components discussed include waveguides, fiber-to-chip couplers, edges and gratings, phase shifters, splitters and switches (including y-branch, MMI, and directional couplers), as well as subwavelength grating structures and ring resonators. Additionally, this review addresses challenges and future prospects in advancing integrated photonic circuits on SOI platforms, focusing on scalability, power efficiency, and fabrication issues. The objective of this review is to equip researchers and engineers in the field with a comprehensive understanding of the current landscape and future trajectories of integrated photonic components on SOI substrates with a 220 nm thick device layer of intrinsic silicon. Full article

All-silicon terahertz absorbers have attracted considerable interest. We present a design and numerical study of an all-silicon polarization-insensitive terahertz metamaterial absorber. The meta-atoms of the metamaterial absorber are square silicon rings which can be viewed as gratings. By properly optimizing the structure of the meta-atom, we achieve a broadband absorptivity that is above 90% ranging from 0.77 THz to 2.53 THz, with a relative bandwidth of 106.7%. Impedance matching reduces the reflection of the terahertz waves and the (0, ±1)-order diffraction induce the strong absorption. The absorption of this absorber is insensitive to the polarization of the terahertz wave and has a large incident angle tolerance of up to 60 degrees. The all-silicon metamaterial absorber proposed here provides an effective way to obtain broadband absorption in the terahertz regime. Metamaterial absorbers have outstanding applications in terahertz communication and imaging. Full article

Silicon photonic-based refractive index sensors are of great value in the detection of gases, biological and chemical substances. Among them, microring resonators are the most promising due to their compact size and narrow Lorentzian-shaped spectrum. The electric field in a subwavelength grating waveguide (SWG) is essentially confined in the low-refractive index dielectric, favoring enhanced analyte-photon interactions, which represents higher sensitivity. However, it is very challenging to further significantly improve the sensitivity of SWG ring resonator refractive index sensors. Here, a hybrid waveguide blocks double slot subwavelength grating microring resonator (HDSSWG-MRR) refractive index sensor operating in a water refractive index environment is proposed. By designing a new waveguide structure, a sensitivity of up to 1005 nm/RIU has been achieved, which is 182 nm/RIU higher than the currently highest sensitivity silicon photonic micro ring refractive index sensor. Meanwhile, utilizing a unique waveguide structure, a Q of 22,429 was achieved and a low limit of detection of 6.86 × 10⁻⁵ RIU was calculated. Full article

Features of the diffraction of Gaussian beams and Laguerre–Gaussian modes on subwavelength optical 3D microstructures with variable relief heights are calculated and studied in this paper. Silicon subwavelength ring gratings and diffraction axicons were considered as such optical microstructures. The height of individual relief elements varied. The propagation of laser light through the proposed optical elements was simulated using the finite difference time domain (FDTD) method. It was shown that it is possible to select the height of individual relief rings of ring gratings in such a way that it is possible to reduce the size of the focal spot down to 0.36 λ, form an extended light segment (up to 5.79 λ), and form optical traps. Full article

Metalenses are planar optical components that have demonstrated immense potential for integrated optics. In particular, they are capable of high-efficiency subwavelength focusing without the bulkiness of traditional lenses. Dielectric metalenses operating in the C-band typically employ relatively tall, amorphous silicon structures arranged in a periodic array. Phase control spanning from 0 to 2π is accessed by varying the geometry of these scattering structures. The full 2π phase range is necessary to impose a hyperbolic focusing phase profile, but this is difficult to achieve without custom fabrication practices. In this work, we propose a binary phase Fresnel zone plate metalens designed for the standard 500 nm silicon-on-insulator platform. Our design uses subwavelength gratings with trapezoidal segmentation to form concentric rings. The effective index of the grating is set with the duty cycle using a single full-etch step to form the binary phase profile of the zone plate. The metalens design can be easily tuned to achieve longer focal lengths at different wavelengths. It offers a simple platform for high-throughput wavelength-scale focusing elements in free-space optics, including for microscopy and medical imaging. Full article

Silicon photonic (SiP) evanescent-field biosensors aim to combine the information-rich readouts offered by lab-scale diagnostics, at a significantly lower cost, and with the portability and rapid time to result offered by paper-based assays. While SiP biosensors fabricated with conventional strip waveguides can offer good sensitivity for label-free detection in some applications, there is still opportunity for improvement. Efforts have been made to design higher-sensitivity SiP sensors with alternative waveguide geometries, including sub-wavelength gratings (SWGs). However, SWG-based devices are fragile and prone to damage, limiting their suitability for scalable and portable sensing. Here, we investigate SiP microring resonator sensors designed with SWG waveguides that contain a “fishbone” and highlight the improved robustness offered by this design. We present a framework for optimizing fishbone-style SWG waveguide geometries based on numerical simulations, then experimentally measure the performance of ring resonator sensors fabricated with the optimized waveguides, targeting operation in the O-band and C-band. For the O-band and C-band devices, we report bulk sensitivities up to 349 nm/RIU and 438 nm/RIU, respectively, and intrinsic limits of detection as low as 5.1 × 10⁻⁴ RIU and 7.1 × 10⁻⁴ RIU, respectively. This performance is comparable to the state of the art in SWG-based sensors, positioning fishbone SWG resonators as an attractive, more robust, alternative to conventional SWG designs. Full article

Exploration and implementation of silicon (Si) photonics has surged in recent years since both photonic component performance and photonic integration complexity have considerably improved. It supports a wide range of datacom and telecom applications, as well as sensors, including light detection and ranging, gyroscopes, biosensors, and spectrometers. The advantages of low-loss Si WGs with compact size and excellent uniformity, resulting from the high quality and maturity of the Si complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) environment, are major drivers for using Si in photonics. Moreover, it has a high refractive index and a reasonably large mid-infrared (MIR) transparency window, up to roughly 7 μm wavelength, making it beneficial as a passive mid-IR optical material. Several gases and compounds with high absorption properties in the MIR spectral region are of prodigious curiosity for industrial, medicinal, and environmental applications. In comparison to current bulky systems, the implementation of Si photonics devices in this wavelength range might allow inexpensive and small optical sensing devices with greater sensitivity (S), power usage, and mobility. In this review, recent advances in Si integrated photonic sensors working in both near-infrared (NIR) and MIR wavelength ranges are discussed. We believe that this paper will be valuable for the scientific community working on Si photonic sensing devices. Full article

Photonic-based thermometers have been attracting intense research interest as a potential alternative to traditional electrical thermometers due to their physical and chemical stability and immunity to electromagnetic interference. However, due to the high requirements for the stability of the laser source, the existing studies on resolution are only theoretical predictions and do not include real-measured results. In this paper, we report on the fabrication and characterization of an on-chip silicon whispering-gallery-mode (WGM) ring resonator thermometer. The strip grating and the ring structure were fabricated on the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate by two-step etching. The quality-factor (Q-factor), temperature sensitivity, and measurement range of the packaged device were 21,400, 42 pm/K, and 150 K, respectively. The real-measured temperature resolution of 2.9 mK was achieved by virtue of the power and polarization stabilization of the laser source. Full article

As an important optoelectronic integration platform, silicon photonics has achieved significant progress in recent years, demonstrating the advantages on low power consumption, low cost, and complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) compatibility. Among the different silicon photonics devices, the silicon electro-optic modulator is a key active component to implement the conversion of electric signal to optical signal. However, conventional silicon Mach–Zehnder modulators and silicon micro-ring modulators both have their own limitations, which will limit their use in future systems. For example, the conventional silicon Mach–Zehnder modulators are hindered by large footprint, while the silicon micro-ring modulators have narrow optical bandwidth and high temperature sensitivity. Therefore, developing a new structure for silicon modulators to improve the performance is a crucial research direction in silicon photonics. Meanwhile, slow-light effect is an important physical phenomenon that can reduce the group velocity of light. Applying slow-light effect on silicon modulators through photonics crystal and waveguide grating structures is an attractive research point, especially in the aspect of reducing the device footprint. In this paper, we review the recent progress of silicon-based slow-light electro-optic modulators towards future communication requirements. Beginning from the principle of slow-light effect, we summarize the research of silicon photonic crystal modulators and silicon waveguide grating modulators in detail. Simultaneously, the experimental results of representative silicon slow-light modulators are compared and analyzed. Finally, we discuss the existing challenges and development directions of silicon-based slow-light electro-optic modulators for the practical applications. Full article

Herein we propose a design of a wavelength-tunable integrated vortex beam emitter based on the silicon-on-insulator platform. The emitter is implemented using a PN-depletion diode inside a microring resonator with the emitting hole grating that was used to produce a vortex beam. The resonance wavelengths can be shifted due to the refractive index change associated with the free plasma dispersion effect. Obtained numerical modeling results confirm the efficiency of the proposed approach, providing a resonance wavelength shift while maintaining the required topological charge of the emitted vortex beam. It is known that optical vortices got a lot of attention due to extensive telecommunication and biochemical applications, but also, they have revealed some beneficial use cases in sensors. Flexibility in spectral tuning demonstrated by the proposed device can significantly improve the accuracy of sensors based on fiber Bragg gratings. Moreover, we demonstrate that the proposed device can provide a displacement of the resonance by the value of the free spectral range of the ring resonator, which means the possibility to implement an ultra-fast orbital angular momentum (de)multiplexing or modulation. Full article