We present the first optical study of 2-D photonic crystals (PCs) deeply etched in an InP/GaInAsP step-index waveguide. Following the same internal light source approach proposed by Labilloy and coworkers for the investigation of GaAs-based 2-D PCs, transmission measurements through simple PC slabs and 1-D Fabry-Pérot (FP) cavities between PC mirrors were performed. Details are given on the experimental setup which has been implemented with respect to the original scheme and adapted to InPbased systems working at 1.5-m. 2-D plane-wave expansion and finite difference time-domain (FDTD) methods are used to fit the experimental data. Out-of-plane losses were evaluated according to a recently introduced phenomenological model. In spite of the complex hole morphology in the measured samples, preliminary results are presented which indicate the possibility of separating different loss contributions from finite etch depth and hole shape. As for 1-D cavities, both FDTD and classical theory for planar resonators are applied in order to deduce the optical properties of the PC mirrors. The origin of an anomalously high transmission observed inside the stopgap is discussed and arguments are given to demonstrate the need for further modeling efforts when working in the bandgap regime.

In this paper, a woven textile containing temperature and humidity sensors realized on flexible, plastic stripes is presented. The authors introduce two different sensors fabrication techniques: the first one consists of a conventional photolithography patterning technique; the second one, namely inkjet-printing, is here presented as an effective, lowcost alternative. In both cases, we obtain temperature and humidity sensors that can be easily integrated within a fabric by using a conventional weaving machine. All the sensors are fully characterized and the performances obtained with the two different fabrication techniques are compared and discussed, pointing out advantages and drawbacks resulting from each fabrication technique. The bending tests performed on these sensors show that they can be successfully woven without being damaged. A demonstrator, consisting of a mechanical support for the e-textile, a read-out electronic circuit, and a graphical PC interface to monitor the acquisition of humidity and temperature values, is also presented and described. This paper opens an avenue for real integration between printed electronics and traditional textile technology and materials. Printing techniques may be successfully used for the fabrication of e-textile devices, paving the way for the production of large area polymeric stripes and thus enabling new applications that, at the moment, cannot be developed with the standard lithography methods.Index Terms-E-textiles, humidity and temperature sensors, inkjet-printing, plastic and flexible substrates, wearable electronics. Manuscript

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