Silicon and silicon nitride photonic circuits for spectroscopic sensing on-a-chip

There is a rapidly growing demand to use silicon and silicon nitride (Si3N4) integrated photonics for sensing applications, ranging from refractive index to spectroscopic sensing. By making use of advanced CMOS technology, complex miniaturized circuits can be easily realized on a large scale and at a low cost covering visible to mid-IR wavelengths. In this paper we present our recent work on the development of silicon and Si3N4-based photonic integrated circuits for various spectroscopic sensing applications. We report our findings on waveguide-based absorption, and Raman and surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy. Finally we report on-chip spectrometers and on-chip broadband light sources covering very near-IR to mid-IR wavelengths to realize fully integrated spectroscopic systems on a chip. (C) 2015 Chinese Laser Press