22nd Microoptics Conference (MOC2017), Tokyo, Japan, Nov.

19 - 22, 2017

+

Mach-Zehnder Interferometer with Fabry-Perot Cavities

in Silicon-on-Insulator for Biosensing
Manuel Mendez-Astudillo (1) Hideaki Okayama (1), (2) and Hirochika Nakajima (1)
(1) Graduate School of Advanced Science and Engineering, Waseda University
(2) Research and Development Centre, Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd.
(1) 3-4-1, Okubo, Shinjuku, Tokyo, 169-8555, Japan. mendezam@akane.waseda.jp

Abstract: We demonstrate a Fabry-Perot cavity based on Bragg grating mirrors in both arms of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. The
devices were fabricated in silicon-on-insulator and are useful for characterizing the waveguide parameters and obtaining a highly
precise and sensitive sensor with a temperature compensating scheme.

1. Introduction Our proposed structure is temperature independent as

Silicon photonics is considered to become a main
technology in biosensing and optical communication
fields [1]. One particular structure that is important is the
Fabry-Perot (FP) cavity as it can be produced in different
configurations and has many applications [2]. In this
paper, we demonstrate a FP cavity using sidewall Bragg
Grating (BG) structures as the reflection ends, which are
fabricated on both arms of an asymmetric Mach-Zehnder
Interferometer (MZI). We use this structure to directly
measure the effective refractive index, group index and
use it as a precise refractive index sensor by analysing
the combined response of the elements.
2. Design
It has been shown that FP cavities are a useful element to
characterize waveguide parameters [3]. Here, we
propose FP cavities made of spaced BGs on both sides of
the arms of a MZI as shown in Fig 1. In this
configuration, the FP response is only seen within the
stopband of the BG filter. The MZI gives us a direct
measurement of the group index, while the BG gives us
the effective refractive index of the waveguide by using
equations 1 and 2 respectively.
ng O2 (2 ˜ FSR ˜ 'L) (1)
neff OB / 2/ (2)
The FP cavity allow us to further characterize the
group index wavelength dependence, Q factor and
reflectivity of the BG. We designed the MZI to have a
FSR larger than the Bragg gratings to be able to
distinguish the different peaks from the FP and also
easily resolve the dips of the MZI as shown in Fig. 1.
one arm can be used as reference while the other arm is
used for direct sensing of the refractive index so we are
able to quantify the differences in effective index
between arms.
3. Fabrication
We fabricated our samples on a 250 nm thick silicon-on-
insulator wafer with 2 μm buried oxide and air as
cladding. We fabricated three different families of
devices with increasing FP cavity length, but all of the
families had a bus waveguide width of 500 nm, a
protruding corrugation width of 50 nm, a period of Λ =
320 nm with 50% duty cycle and 50 periods before and
after the FP cavity. The splitting and combing of the
waveguides for the MZI was obtained with a MMI
coupler.
The first family had a FP cavity length of Λ (320 nm),
thus corresponding to a π-shifter (FP1). The second
family had a FP length of 50 periods (16 μm) which we
name FP50, and the third family had a FP length of 250
periods (80 μm) which we name FP250. These structures
were fabricated on both arms of an asymmetric MZI that
had a total difference in length of ΔL = 7.35 μm.
All the devices were fabricated with electron-beam
lithography in the positive resist ZEP520A and a single
etching step with ICP-RIE. To access the device, fully
etched diffraction grating couplers were fabricated at the
end of the waveguides [4]. Fig 2 shows a SEM image of
an arm of the MZI for FP1.

Fig. 2. SEM image of one arm of the MZI with the BG and FP.

Fig. 1. Schematic and response of the proposed sensor. 4. Experimental results

The experimental setup consists of a tunable laser from
1440-1640 nm, connected to a polarization controller

© 2017 The Japan Society of Applied Physics


22nd Microoptics Conference (MOC2017), Tokyo, Japan, Nov. 19 - 22, 2017

using SMF. The other end of the fiber is cleaved and

mounted on a six stage controller to couple into the
grating coupler. The output is collected with another
SMF fiber and the power is detected with a photo diode.
The spectral characteristics for FP50 and a reference
MZI are shown in Fig 3. We can easily distinguish the
effect of the MZI and the FP cavity. The MZI has a FSR
of 70 nm giving us a group index of 4.41 by using
equation 1.

(a)

Fig. 3. Transmission spectra of a MZI with FP cavity of 16 μm.

From Fig 3. we can also calculate the FSR of the FP

cavity which is 11.9 nm, giving us a real FP length of
22,256 μm. We can conclude that the light penetrates
about 6 μm (18 periods) into the BG due to the fact that
the small sidewall corrugations are not a high reflectivity
mirror. By normalizing the transmission with the
reference MZI, we are able to extract the stop bandwidth
of the BG that is 40 nm and by using equation 2, we get
an effective index of 2.45.
The transmission of the other two families is shown
in Fig 4(a). For FP1, we are able to distinguish two
peaks, one from each arm for the MZI. We can spectrally
resolve the splitting of the resonances as the device is
smaller in length and thus more sensitive to fabrication
variations, in this case there is a 0.05 variation.
Additionally, the many peaks from the FP250 allow us to
measure the group index at different wavelengths.
Also, we calculate the Q value for the three families,
and the normalized results are shown in Fig 4(b). We can
see that for the third family, the Q value is highest at
29000, followed by a Q of 16000 for the FP50 and a Q
of 3100 for the phase shift case. For the FP50 case, we
can resolve for both arm’s peaks in the magnified
spectrum, however for the FP250, the asymmetry of the
peaks suggest an overlapping of both arm’s peaks. With
higher Q values, we can obtain a more precise
measurement of the cladding’s refractive index.
Experimental results show that an increase in
temperature shifts the whole spectrum to the right. And
by flowing different concentrations of NaCl dissolved in
water we are able to calculate a sensitivity of 70 nm per
refractive index unit (RIU).
(b)
Fig 4. (a) Spectra of the FP1 and FP250 device (b) Q value
determination for the three cases.
5. Conclusion
We showed the fabrication and characterization of a MZI
with Fabry-Perot cavities on both arms. The device is
very useful for direct measurements of the wavelength-
dependent group index and effective index. The high Q
transmission peaks make it suitable for optical filter
applications, while the combined spectrum of the MZI
and Fabry-Perot make it ideal for accurate sensing
applications.
Acknowledgment
The devices were fabricated at Waseda University
Nanotechnology Research Center (NTRC). M. Mendez-
Astudillo would like to acknowledge CONACYT
(292014) doctoral grant.
References
[1] M. Caverley, et al., “Silicon-on-Insulator Modulators Using
a Quarter-Wave Phase-Shifted Bragg Grating,” IEEE
Photon. Technol. Lett., 27, 2331-2334 (2015).
[2] W. Zhang, et al., “Optical Differentiator Based on an
Integrated Sidewall Phase-Shifted Bragg Grating,” IEEE
Photon. Technol. Lett., 26, 2383-2386 (2014).
[3] Y. Painchaud, et al., "Bragg grating notch filters in silicon-
on-insulator waveguides," in Advanced Photonics
Congress, OSA Technical Digest (Optical Society of
America, 2012), pp BW2E.3.
[4] M. Mendez-Astudillo, et al., “Evanescently Coupled
Rectangular Microresonators in Silicon-on-Insulator with
High Q-Values: Experimental Characterization,” Photonics,
4, 34 (2017).

© 2017 The Japan Society of Applied Physics