Open AccessOptical characterization at 77 µm of an integrated platform based on chalcogenide waveguides for sensing applications in the mid-infrared
Author(s) -
Aldo Gutierrez-Arroyo,
Émeline Baudet,
Loïc Bodiou,
Jonathan Lemaître,
Isabelle Hardy,
François Faijan,
Bruno Bureau,
Virginie Nazabal,
Joël Charrier
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.24.023109
Subject(s) - materials science , chalcogenide , optics , infrared , photolithography , optoelectronics , chalcogenide glass , zinc selenide , etching (microfabrication) , sputtering , sputter deposition , thin film , nanotechnology , physics , layer (electronics)
A selenide integrated platform working in the mid-infrared was designed, fabricated and optically characterized at 7.7 µm. Ge-Sb-Se multilayered structures were deposited by RF magnetron sputtering. Using i-line photolithography and fluorine-based reactive ion etching, ridge waveguides were processed as Y-junction, spiral and S-shape waveguides. Single-mode optical propagation at 7.7 µm was observed by optical near-field imaging and optical propagation losses of 2.5dB/cm are measured. Limits of detection of 14.2 ppm and 1.6 ppm for methane and nitrous oxide, respectively, could be potentially measured by using this platform as an evanescent field sensor. Hence, these technological, experimental and theoretical results represent a first step towards the development of an integrated optical sensor operating in the mid-infrared wavelength range.