Detector-Only Spectrometer Based on Structurally Colored Silicon Nanowires and a Reconstruction Algorithm

Spectroscopy is a cornerstone in the field of optics. Conventional spectrometers generally require two elements. The first provides wavelength selectivity, for example, diffraction grating or Michelson interferometer. The second is a detector (or detector array). Many applications would benefit from very small and lightweight spectrometers. This motivates us to investigate what may be regarded as an ultimate level of miniaturization for a spectrometer, in which it consists solely of a detector array. We demonstrate a chip containing 24 pixels, each comprising a silicon nanowire (Si NW) array photodetector formed above a planar photodetector. The NWs are structurally colored, enabling us to engineer the responsivity spectra of all photodetectors in the chip. Each pixel thus combines wavelength selectivity and photodetection functions. We demonstrate the use of our chip to reconstruct the spectrum of an unknown light source impinging upon it. This is achieved by an algorithm that takes as its inputs the measured photocurrents from the pixels and a library of their responsivity spectra.