Design Rule of Mach-Zehnder Interferometer Sensors for Ultra-High Sensitivity
A design rule for a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) sensor is presented, allowing tunable sensitivity by appropriately choosing the MZI arm lengths according to the formula given in this paper. The present MZI sensor designed by this method can achieve an ultra-high sensitivity, which is much high...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2020-05-01
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| Series: | Sensors |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/20/9/2640 |
| _version_ | 1797568722819350528 |
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| author | Yiwei Xie Ming Zhang Daoxin Dai |
| author_facet | Yiwei Xie Ming Zhang Daoxin Dai |
| author_sort | Yiwei Xie |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | A design rule for a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) sensor is presented, allowing tunable sensitivity by appropriately choosing the MZI arm lengths according to the formula given in this paper. The present MZI sensor designed by this method can achieve an ultra-high sensitivity, which is much higher than any other traditional MZI sensors. An example is given with silicon-on-insulator (SOI) nanowires and the device sensitivity is as high as 10<sup>6</sup> nm/refractive-index -unit (or even higher), by choosing the MZI arms appropriately. This makes it possible for one to realize a low-cost optical sensing system with a detection limit as high as 10<sup>−6</sup> refractive-index-unit, even when a cheap optical spectrum analyzer with low-resolution (e.g., 1 nm) is used for the wavelength-shift measurement. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T20:00:58Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-06c7ade5e5904203bc5c67e63cac4e47 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1424-8220 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T20:00:58Z |
| publishDate | 2020-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sensors |
| spelling | doaj.art-06c7ade5e5904203bc5c67e63cac4e472023-11-19T23:32:58ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202020-05-01209264010.3390/s20092640Design Rule of Mach-Zehnder Interferometer Sensors for Ultra-High SensitivityYiwei Xie0Ming Zhang1Daoxin Dai2Centre for Optical and Electromagnetic Research, State Key Laboratory for Modern Optical Instrumentation, College of Optical Science and Engineering, International Research Center for Advanced Photonics, Zhejiang University, Zijingang Campus, Hangzhou 310058, ChinaCentre for Optical and Electromagnetic Research, State Key Laboratory for Modern Optical Instrumentation, College of Optical Science and Engineering, International Research Center for Advanced Photonics, Zhejiang University, Zijingang Campus, Hangzhou 310058, ChinaCentre for Optical and Electromagnetic Research, State Key Laboratory for Modern Optical Instrumentation, College of Optical Science and Engineering, International Research Center for Advanced Photonics, Zhejiang University, Zijingang Campus, Hangzhou 310058, ChinaA design rule for a Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) sensor is presented, allowing tunable sensitivity by appropriately choosing the MZI arm lengths according to the formula given in this paper. The present MZI sensor designed by this method can achieve an ultra-high sensitivity, which is much higher than any other traditional MZI sensors. An example is given with silicon-on-insulator (SOI) nanowires and the device sensitivity is as high as 10<sup>6</sup> nm/refractive-index -unit (or even higher), by choosing the MZI arms appropriately. This makes it possible for one to realize a low-cost optical sensing system with a detection limit as high as 10<sup>−6</sup> refractive-index-unit, even when a cheap optical spectrum analyzer with low-resolution (e.g., 1 nm) is used for the wavelength-shift measurement.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/20/9/2640integrated opticspolarization-selective devicesMach-Zehnder interferometer sensor |
| spellingShingle | Yiwei Xie Ming Zhang Daoxin Dai Design Rule of Mach-Zehnder Interferometer Sensors for Ultra-High Sensitivity Sensors integrated optics polarization-selective devices Mach-Zehnder interferometer sensor |
| title | Design Rule of Mach-Zehnder Interferometer Sensors for Ultra-High Sensitivity |
| title_full | Design Rule of Mach-Zehnder Interferometer Sensors for Ultra-High Sensitivity |
| title_fullStr | Design Rule of Mach-Zehnder Interferometer Sensors for Ultra-High Sensitivity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Design Rule of Mach-Zehnder Interferometer Sensors for Ultra-High Sensitivity |
| title_short | Design Rule of Mach-Zehnder Interferometer Sensors for Ultra-High Sensitivity |
| title_sort | design rule of mach zehnder interferometer sensors for ultra high sensitivity |
| topic | integrated optics polarization-selective devices Mach-Zehnder interferometer sensor |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/20/9/2640 |
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