Numerical Study of a Dual-Mode Optical Sensor for Temperature and Refractive Index Sensing with Enhanced Temperature Range

This study presents a photonic integrated optical sensor based on a dual-polarization microring resonator with angular gratings on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) waveguide, enabling simultaneous and precise refractive index (RI) and temperature measurements. Due to the distinct energy distributions fo...

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Main Authors: Muhammad Favad Qadir, Muhammad Zakwan, Saleem Shahid, Ahsan Sarwar Rana, Muhammad Mahmood Ali, Wolfgang Bösch
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-06-01
Series:Sensors
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/25/13/3999
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author Muhammad Favad Qadir
Muhammad Zakwan
Saleem Shahid
Ahsan Sarwar Rana
Muhammad Mahmood Ali
Wolfgang Bösch
author_facet Muhammad Favad Qadir
Muhammad Zakwan
Saleem Shahid
Ahsan Sarwar Rana
Muhammad Mahmood Ali
Wolfgang Bösch
author_sort Muhammad Favad Qadir
collection DOAJ
description This study presents a photonic integrated optical sensor based on a dual-polarization microring resonator with angular gratings on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) waveguide, enabling simultaneous and precise refractive index (RI) and temperature measurements. Due to the distinct energy distributions for transverse electric (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mi mathvariant="italic">TE</mi></semantics></math></inline-formula>) and transverse magnetic (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mi mathvariant="italic">TM</mi></semantics></math></inline-formula>) modes in SOI waveguides, these modes show distinct sensitivity responses to the variation in ambient RI and temperature. Simultaneous measurements of both temperature and RI are enabled by exciting both these transverse modes in the microring resonator structure. Furthermore, incorporating angular gratings into the microring resonator’s inner sidewall extends the temperature measurement range by mitigating free spectral range limitations. This work presents a novel approach to dual-polarization microring resonators with angular gratings, offering an enhanced temperature measurement range and detection limit in optical sensing applications requiring an extended temperature range. The proposed structure is able to yield a simulated temperature measurement range of approximately 35 nm with a detection limit as low as <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mn>2.99</mn><mo>×</mo><msup><mn>10</mn><mrow><mo>−</mo><mn>5</mn></mrow></msup></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>. The achieved temperature sensitivity is 334 pm/°C and RI sensitivity is 13.33 nm/RIU for the <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msub><mi mathvariant="italic">TE</mi><mn>0</mn></msub></semantics></math></inline-formula> mode, while the <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msub><mi mathvariant="italic">TM</mi><mn>0</mn></msub></semantics></math></inline-formula> mode exhibits a temperature sensitivity of 260 pm/°C and an RI sensitivity of 76.66 nm/RIU.
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issn 1424-8220
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spelling doaj-art-5407004c9dcd44f6b2c0b44540571e682025-08-20T03:16:50ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202025-06-012513399910.3390/s25133999Numerical Study of a Dual-Mode Optical Sensor for Temperature and Refractive Index Sensing with Enhanced Temperature RangeMuhammad Favad Qadir0Muhammad Zakwan1Saleem Shahid2Ahsan Sarwar Rana3Muhammad Mahmood Ali4Wolfgang Bösch5Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Air University, Islamabad 44230, PakistanInstitute of Avionics and Aeronautics, Air University, Islamabad 44230, PakistanInstitute of Microwave and Photonic Engineering, Graz University of Technology, 8010 Graz, AustriaDepartment of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Air University, Islamabad 44230, PakistanDepartment of Mechatronic Engineering, Atlantic Technological University, F91 YW50 Sligo, IrelandInstitute of Microwave and Photonic Engineering, Graz University of Technology, 8010 Graz, AustriaThis study presents a photonic integrated optical sensor based on a dual-polarization microring resonator with angular gratings on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) waveguide, enabling simultaneous and precise refractive index (RI) and temperature measurements. Due to the distinct energy distributions for transverse electric (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mi mathvariant="italic">TE</mi></semantics></math></inline-formula>) and transverse magnetic (<inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mi mathvariant="italic">TM</mi></semantics></math></inline-formula>) modes in SOI waveguides, these modes show distinct sensitivity responses to the variation in ambient RI and temperature. Simultaneous measurements of both temperature and RI are enabled by exciting both these transverse modes in the microring resonator structure. Furthermore, incorporating angular gratings into the microring resonator’s inner sidewall extends the temperature measurement range by mitigating free spectral range limitations. This work presents a novel approach to dual-polarization microring resonators with angular gratings, offering an enhanced temperature measurement range and detection limit in optical sensing applications requiring an extended temperature range. The proposed structure is able to yield a simulated temperature measurement range of approximately 35 nm with a detection limit as low as <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><mn>2.99</mn><mo>×</mo><msup><mn>10</mn><mrow><mo>−</mo><mn>5</mn></mrow></msup></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>. The achieved temperature sensitivity is 334 pm/°C and RI sensitivity is 13.33 nm/RIU for the <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msub><mi mathvariant="italic">TE</mi><mn>0</mn></msub></semantics></math></inline-formula> mode, while the <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msub><mi mathvariant="italic">TM</mi><mn>0</mn></msub></semantics></math></inline-formula> mode exhibits a temperature sensitivity of 260 pm/°C and an RI sensitivity of 76.66 nm/RIU.https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/25/13/3999SOI waveguideintegrated optical sensorsdual polarizationsimultaneous measurement
spellingShingle Muhammad Favad Qadir
Muhammad Zakwan
Saleem Shahid
Ahsan Sarwar Rana
Muhammad Mahmood Ali
Wolfgang Bösch
Numerical Study of a Dual-Mode Optical Sensor for Temperature and Refractive Index Sensing with Enhanced Temperature Range
Sensors
SOI waveguide
integrated optical sensors
dual polarization
simultaneous measurement
title Numerical Study of a Dual-Mode Optical Sensor for Temperature and Refractive Index Sensing with Enhanced Temperature Range
title_full Numerical Study of a Dual-Mode Optical Sensor for Temperature and Refractive Index Sensing with Enhanced Temperature Range
title_fullStr Numerical Study of a Dual-Mode Optical Sensor for Temperature and Refractive Index Sensing with Enhanced Temperature Range
title_full_unstemmed Numerical Study of a Dual-Mode Optical Sensor for Temperature and Refractive Index Sensing with Enhanced Temperature Range
title_short Numerical Study of a Dual-Mode Optical Sensor for Temperature and Refractive Index Sensing with Enhanced Temperature Range
title_sort numerical study of a dual mode optical sensor for temperature and refractive index sensing with enhanced temperature range
topic SOI waveguide
integrated optical sensors
dual polarization
simultaneous measurement
url https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/25/13/3999
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