Picelli L, van Veldhoven P J, Verhagen E, Fiore A
Department of Applied Physics and Science Education, and Eindhoven Hendrik Casimir Institute, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
Center for Nanophotonics, AMOLF, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Nat Nanotechnol. 2023 Oct;18(10):1162-1167. doi: 10.1038/s41565-023-01435-x. Epub 2023 Jul 6.
Most sensors rely on a change in an electrical parameter to the measurand of interest. Their direct readout via an electrical wire and an electronic circuit is, in principle, technically simple, but it is subject to electromagnetic interference, preventing its application in several industrial environments. Fibre-optic sensors can overcome these limitations because the sensing region and readout region can be spaced apart, sometimes by kilometres. However, fibre-optic sensing typically requires complex interrogation equipment due to the extremely high wavelength accuracy that is required. Here we combine the sensitivity and flexibility of electronic sensors with the advantages of optical readout, by demonstrating a hybrid electronic-photonic sensor integrated on the tip of a fibre. The sensor is based on an electro-optical nanophotonic structure that uses the strong co-localization of static and electromagnetic fields to simultaneously achieve a voltage-to-wavelength transduction and a modulation of reflectance. We demonstrate the possibility of reading the current-voltage characteristics of the electro-optic diode through the fibre and therefore its changes due to the environment. As a proof of concept, we show the application of this method to cryogenic temperature sensing. This approach allows fibre-optic sensing to take advantage of the vast toolbox of electrical sensing modalities for many different measurands.
大多数传感器依靠电参数的变化来测量感兴趣的被测量。通过电线和电子电路对其进行直接读出，原则上在技术上很简单，但它容易受到电磁干扰，这限制了其在多种工业环境中的应用。光纤传感器可以克服这些限制，因为传感区域和读出区域可以分开，有时相隔数公里。然而，由于需要极高的波长精度，光纤传感通常需要复杂的询问设备。在此，我们通过展示一种集成在光纤尖端的混合电子 - 光子传感器，将电子传感器的灵敏度和灵活性与光学读出的优势相结合。该传感器基于一种电光纳米光子结构，利用静态场和电磁场的强共定位来同时实现电压到波长的转换以及反射率的调制。我们展示了通过光纤读取电光二极管电流 - 电压特性的可能性，以及因此其随环境的变化。作为概念验证，我们展示了该方法在低温温度传感中的应用。这种方法使光纤传感能够利用针对许多不同被测量的大量电传感方式工具箱。
