Silicon photonic olfactory sensor based on an array of 64 biofunctionalized Mach-Zehnder interferometers.

Silicon photonics can address a variety of applications, from datacom and biosensing to lidars. Recently, this technology has been explored for gas sensing. Detection and identification of odors remains a critical challenge in diverse areas such as air quality, food spoilage, or personal well-being. In this work, we present an olfactory sensor based on an array of 64 biofunctionalized Mach-Zehnder interferometers integrated on a silicon nitride platform. The ability to analyze odors at ppm level is demonstrated for several volatile organic compounds.

Spectrotemporal dynamics of a picosecond OPO based on chirped quasi-phase-matching: erratum.

This erratum is to correct an error made in our paper [Opt. Lett.40, 280 (2015)OPLEDP0146-959210.1364/OL.40.000280] regarding the sign of the quasi-phase matching chirp rate.

Wide and fast dispersion tuning of a picosecond OPO based on aperiodic quasi-phase matching using an axially chirped volume Bragg grating.

We report on a widely tunable synchronously pumped picosecond optical parametric oscillator (OPO) combining an aperiodically poled MgO-doped LiNbO3 crystal as a broadband gain medium and an axially chirped volume Bragg grating as a spectral filtering dispersive element. Translation of the Bragg grating along the beam axis enables wavelength tuning over 215 nm around 3.82 µm and provides spectral narrowing. Rapid continuous tuning over 150 nm in 100 ms is demonstrated.

Rapidly tunable optical parametric oscillator based on aperiodic quasi-phase matching.

A new optical parametric oscillator (OPO) architecture with high tuning speed capability is demonstrated. This device exploits the versatility offered by aperiodic quasi-phase matching (QPM) to provide a broad parametric gain spectrum without changing the temperature, angle, or position of the nonlinear crystal. Rapid tuning is then straightforwardly achieved using a fast intracavity spectral filter. This concept is demonstrated here for a picosecond synchronously pumped OPO containing an aperiodically poled MgO-doped LiNbO3 crystal and a rapidly tunable spectral filter based on a diffraction grating. Tuning over 160 nm around 3.86 µm is achieved at fixed temperature and a fast tuning over 30 nm in 40 µs is demonstrated. Different configurations are tested and compared. The cavity length detuning is analyzed and discussed. This device is successfully used to detect N2O by absorption. This approach could be generalized to other spectral ranges (e.g., visible) and temporal regimes (e.g., continuous-wave or nanosecond).