Open AccessDesign of an on-chip Fourier transform spectrometer using waveguide directional couplers and NEMS
Author(s) -
Liang Li,
Chenyu Peng,
Yi Qi,
Guangcan Zhou,
Qifeng Qiao,
Fook Siong Chau
Publication year - 2018
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.26.030362
Subject(s) - power dividers and directional couplers , optics , nanoelectromechanical systems , waveguide , actuator , chip , materials science , spectrometer , optoelectronics , physics , telecommunications , computer science , nanotechnology , nanomedicine , artificial intelligence , nanoparticle
A novel concept of on-chip Fourier transform spectrometer is proposed. It consists of semiconductor waveguide directional couplers and NEMS actuators. The optical path difference can be tuned by controlling the NEMS actuators to couple or decouple the directional couplers. With 9 stages of directional couplers, we demonstrate numerically that the spectral resolution can reach up to 4 nm in 1.5 μm to 1.8 μm wavelength range. Further enhancement can be achieved by increasing the number of integrated NEMS driven directional couplers. This design meets the requirement of small size, weight and power and may be useful in future on-chip spectroscopic sensors.