Optical sensors based on photonic molecules fabricated on Silicon-on-insulator platform

• Grant number: 15/12461-8
• Support type: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Effective date (Start): September 01, 2015
• Effective date (End): August 31, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Electrical Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Luis Alberto Mijam Barea
• Grantee: Alvaro Ricardo Guiato Catellan
• Home Institution: Centro de Ciências Exatas e de Tecnologia (CCET). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The fast advances in research of integrated silicon photonic and optical microcavities are collaborating for a rapid increase in the number of devices with important features such as reduced size and easy integration with the standard Complementary Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (CMOS) technology and with other devices present in a chip. Consequently, the applications of these devices are also increasing rapidly, reaching areas of high scientific, technologic and strategic interest. In this context, the optical sensors based on microcavities coupled to waveguides are showing up with applications in significant areas such as physics, biology, chemicals and medicine. However, these sensors still have fundamental limitations like the requirement to have simultaneously high quality factor (Q) as well as long free spectral range (FSR) in microcavities with reduced sizes. In this respect, the purpose of this work is to design, fabricate and characterize optical sensors based on Photonic Molecules (PMs) in Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) platforms. These PMs are photonic structures formed by electromagnetic coupling of two or more optical microcavities and their combination with the SOI platform will make it possible to break the fundamental constraint between Q, FSR and the size of the cavities, allowing optical sensors to be free from the limitations that recent optical sensors based on microcavities face.