Sensor based on an integrated optical microcavity

Abstract

A novel integrated optical sensor based on a cylindrical microcavity (MC) is proposed. A MC sustains so-called whispering-gallery modes (WGMs), in which the energy of the optical field can be efficiently stored. By monitoring the scattering intensity from the MC, one can detect minute changes in the refractive index of the WGM, for instance, as a result of analyte adsorption. Measurement of a change in refractive index of as little as 10(-4) is demonstrated experimentally. The MC-based integrated optical sensor may have a size of approximately 8mum , and it is rugged and inexpensive.

Inferring periodic orbits from spectra of simply shaped microlasers

“…Furthermore they are of interest as sensors for chemical or biological applications [2,3,4] as well as billiard toy models for quantum chaos [5,6]. Towards fundamental and applied considerations, their spectrum is one of the main features.…”

Analysis of the Sensitivity of Self-focused Nonlinear Optical Evanescent Waveguide Sensors

“…Some of the main applications are to quantify protein adsorption, affinity-based recognition of bacteria or living cells. A vast variety of sensor principles have been proposed, including mechanical, electromechanical and optical systems (Lukosz 1995;Bernini, Campopiano and Zeni 2002;Krioukov, Klunder, Driessen, Greve and Otto 2002;Weissman 1997;Klainer, Coulter, Pollina and Saini 1997;Qing and Yamaguchi 1999). Optical sensing is the noncommunication field where integrated optic technology is expected to play an increasing role mainly because of their miniature, high sensitivity, small size, immunity to electromagnetic interference, and low price.…”

Micro-Optical Resonators for Microlasers and Integrated Optoelectronics

“…However, wavelength-scale resonators with wide FSR in high-index-contrast silicon or silicon-on-insulator material systems Akahane, 2003;Dumon, 2004) are crucial for ultra-compact integration of photonic integrated circuits. Another relatively new planar resonator platform is based on using silicon nitride and oxynitride (Krioukov, 2002;Barwicz, 2004). It enables the index contrast to be adjusted by as much as 30% by changing the resonator material composition in between that of SiO 2 and Si 3 N 4 .…”

“…However, most microresonator sensors rely on the measurement of transmission or scattering characteristics of a microresonator exited by an optical waveguide mode in the presence of biological material on the resonator surface or in the surrounding solution. These sensors can detect the resonance frequency shift caused by the change of the resonator effective refractive index or increased absorption (Boyd, 2001;Krioukov, 2002;Vollmer, 2003;Chao, 2003). Alternatively, the sensors can measure the change in phase and/or intensity of the light at the output of the waveguide in the forward direction at a fixed wavelength (Rosenblit, 2004).…”