High-performance conformal sensors employing single-crystal silicon nanomembranes

Abstract

We demonstrate light-weight, conformal, and high-performance flexible sensors fabricated on a large area (>2 cm x 2 cm) silicon nanomembrane transferred onto a flexible substrate. Linear L13 photonic crystal microcavities are designed to provide high quality factors on the flexible platform. Subwavelength grating (SWG) couplers are employed in order to enable efficient light coupling to the device using a single mode fiber. Photonic crystal tapers are implemented at the strip-photonic crystal waveguide interfaces to minimize loss. Preliminary chemical sensing data suggests a sensitivity of 75nm/RIU. Bending tests are further performed in order to demonstrate sensitivityindependent operation.