Integrated Optical Sensing Technologies On Si

An effective approach to achieve efficient phase matching for second order nonlinearities, in multilayer structures will be discussed. It uses dispersion engineering in Bragg reflection waveguides to harness parametric processes in conjunction with concomitant dispersion and birefringence engineering in active devices. This technology enables novel coherent light sources using frequency conversion in a self-pumped chip form factor. These sources can also provide continuous coverage of spectral regions, which are not accessible by other technologies including quantum cascade lasers. This approach has been recently demonstrated in multi-layer Silicon-Oxy-Nitride (SiON) waveguides. Harnessing chi((2)) in SiON offers a route for integration of broadband infrared sources using frequency mixing with opto-fluidics. Different approaches for implementing opto-fluidic structures on Si will be discussed, where the root cause of enhancing the retrieved Raman and infrared signals in these structures will be explained. Recent progress in using this approach to study different nanostructures and biological molecules will be presented.