Ultrawide-bandwidth on-chip spectrometer design using band-pass filters

Area of Science:

• Photonics and Optical Engineering
• Integrated Optics
• Spectroscopy

Background:

• On-chip spectrometers are crucial for miniaturized sensing systems.
• Achieving ultrawide spectral bandwidth with high resolution on a chip is challenging.
• Existing technologies often face limitations in spectral range, resolution, or size.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and simulate a novel ultrawide-bandwidth on-chip spectrometer.
• To achieve a broad spectral range (400-1600 nm) with high spectral resolution (2 nm).
• To demonstrate a compact spectrometer design suitable for diverse applications.

Main Methods:

• Utilized novel on-chip band-pass filters for coarse wavelength division.
• Employed arrayed waveguide gratings for fine spectral resolution.
• Integrated bend waveguides and adiabatic full-couplers to form band-pass filters.

Main Results:

• The spectrometer covers a 1200 nm wavelength range (400-1600 nm) with 2 nm spectral resolution.
• The compact design measures only 3 × 3 cm².
• Achieved continuous spectral coverage with low crosstalk and minimal additional loss.

Conclusions:

• The proposed on-chip spectrometer offers a significant advancement in miniaturized spectral analysis.
• The design is suitable for various applications including spectral tissue sensing, food safety, agriculture, industrial inspection, optical imaging, and biomedical research.
• This technology enables high-performance, compact spectral sensing solutions.