Slot hybrid-core waveguides for temperature-independent integrated optical sensors

Abstract

We propose a novel type of waveguides, called the slot hybrid-core waveguides (HCWs), for temperature-independent integrated optical sensors. The HCWs are composed of different core materials having the opposite thermo-optic coefficients (TOCs) and, therefore, are immune to temperature variations. On this basis, slot HCWs are proposed for the microring resonator-based optical sensors, enabling the sensors to simultaneously present high sensitivities and temperature independence. The temperature-dependent wavelength shifts of the proposed sensors are calculated to be less than 1 pm/K while the sensitivities to the cladding refractive indices attain 468 nm/RIU and 536 nm/RIU, respectively, for the asymmetric and symmetric slot structures.