Fiber-coupled surface-emitting photonic crystal band edge laser for biochemical sensor applications

We report on a refractive index sensor platform based on a surface-emitting photonic crystal (PC) Gamma-point band edge laser (BEL). A simple butt-end fiber coupling makes the BEL system compact, while the translational symmetry of the PC pattern removes the necessity of fiber alignment. The laser wavelength shifts linearly to longer wavelengths as the refractive index of the environmental medium increases. Our BEL system had an index resolution of similar to 10(-3). Taking into account the alignment-free nature, as well as its ultracompactness and high fiber-coupled laser output, the BEL system is well suited to a label-free sensor platform for biochemical applications.