Correction of 2π Phase Jumps for Silicon Photonic Sensors Based on Mach Zehnder Interferometers with Application in Gas and Biosensing.

Silicon photonic sensors based on Mach Zehnder Interferometers (MZIs) have applications spanning from biological and olfactory sensors to temperature and ultrasound sensors. Although a coherent detection scheme can solve the issues of sensitivity fading and ambiguity in phase direction, the measured phase remains 2π periodic. This implies that the acquisition frequency should ensure a phase shift lower than π between each measurement point to prevent 2π phase jumps. Here, we describe and experimentally characterize two methods based on reference MZIs with lower sensitivities to alleviate this drawback. These solutions improve the measurement robustness and allow the lowering of the acquisition frequency. The first method is based on the phase derivative sign comparison. When a discrepancy is detected, the reference MZI is used to choose whether 2π should be added or removed from the nominal MZI. It can correct 2π phase jumps regardless of the sensitivity ratio, so that a single reference MZI can be used to correct multiple nominal MZIs. This first method relaxes the acquisition frequency requirement by a factor of almost two. However, it cannot correct phase jumps of 4π, 6π or higher between two measurement points. The second method is based on the comparison between the measured phase from the nominal MZI and the phase expected from the reference MZI. It can correct multiple 2π phase jumps but requires at least one reference MZI per biofunctionalization. It will also constrain the corrected phase to lie in a limited interval of [-π, +π] around the expected value, and might fail to correct phase shifts above a few tens of radians depending on the disparity of the nominal sensors responses. Nonetheless, for phase shift lower than typically 20 radians, this method allows the lowering of the acquisition frequency almost arbitrarily.

Low voltage 25Gbps silicon Mach-Zehnder modulator in the O-band.

In this work, a 25 Gb ps silicon push-pull Mach-Zehnder modulator operating in the O-Band (1260 nm - 1360 nm) of optical communications and fabricated on a 300 mm platform is presented. The measured modulation efficiency (VπLπ) was comprised between 0.95 V cm and 1.15 V cm, which is comparable to the state-of-the-art modulators in the C-Band, that enabled its use with a driving voltage of 3.3 Vpp, compatible with BiCMOS technology. An extinction ratio of 5 dB and an on-chip insertion losses of 3.6 dB were then demonstrated at 25 Gb ps.

Real-time cancellation of temperature induced resonance shifts in SOI wire waveguide ring resonator label-free biosensor arrays.

A comprehensive investigation of real-time temperature-induced resonance shift cancellation for silicon wire based biosensor arrays is reported for the first time. A reference resonator, protected by either a SU8 or SiO(2) cladding layer, is used to track temperature changes. The temperature dependence of resonators in aqueous solutions, pertinent to biosensing applications, is measured under steady-state conditions and the operating parameters influencing these properties are discussed. Real-time measurements show that the reference resonator resonances reflect the temperature changes without noticeable time delay, enabling effective cancellation of temperature-induced shifts. Binding between complementary IgG protein pairs is monitored over 4 orders of magnitude dynamic range down to a concentration of 20 pM, demonstrating a resolvable mass of 40 attograms. Reactions are measured over time periods as long as 3 hours with high stability, showing a scatter corresponding to a fluid refractive index fluctuation of ± 4 × 10(-6) in the baseline data. Sensor arrays with a SU8 protective cladding are easy to fabricate, while oxide cladding is found to provide superior stability for measurements involving long time scales.