<p> An optical temperature sensor and Fourier spectrometer, working in the 1550nm telecommunications wavelength range, were fabricated in silicon-on-insulator. Both devices were based on asymmetric Mach-Zehnder Interferometer waveguide geometries. The temperature sensor underwent a two phase design. The various asymmetry factors, due to different path length differences, of the Mach-Zehnder arms resulted in different levels of temperature sensitivity, which in turn was the driving mechanism behind the Fourier spectrometer. Due to the asymmetry of the Mach-Zehnder arms, there exists an inherent optical path length difference which is further changed with temperature variation due to the thermo-optic effect. The phase I temperature sensor showed an accuracy of 1-2°C and a sensitivity of 0.5°C for ΔL of 37.23μm and 23.46μm, respectively. The phase II temperature sensor design, which allowed for self normalization, resulted in a 1°C temperature accuracy and a 0.5°C sensitivity for a ΔL of 27.85μm. Both the phase I and II temperature sensors showed repeatable and stable results for the temperature range of 20-100°C, and agreed well with the theoretical design performance. Upon analysis of the highly asymmetric Mach-Zehnder designs it was found that both the 1.05cm and 3.05cm path length differences resulted in a temperature accuracy of 0.1°C, with a 0.05°C sensitivity over a small temperature range.</p> <p> The Fourier spectrometer exhibited decent agreeability with theoretical design performance and demonstrated proof of concept. A 1.05cm path length difference was insufficient to resolve two wavelengths at 1546.12nm and 1564.68nm, which agreed with the theoretical model. However, the 3.05cm ΔL was sufficient to resolve the two wavelengths in a repeatable manner.</p> / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

In the current PhD thesis a thorough study is performed on the design, fabrication and analysis of microstructures created by use of laser methods. The work comprises the design and fabrication of organic, inorganic and hybrid microstructures for use in photonics applications. In addition, several techniques are applied for the fabrication and replication of photonic diffractive microstructures. Fabricated structures are tested as potential functional photonic sensors for humidity, ammonia and temperature detection. Furthermore, a detailed study on polymer-based microstructures creation by laser radiation forces is attempted both theoretically and experimentally. The created 2D and 3D free-standing micro/nanostructures are optically characterized. / Στην παρούσα διδακτορική διατριβή παρουσιάζεται μια ενδελεχής μελέτη στην σχεδίαση, κατασκευή και ανάλυση μικροδομών που δημιουργούνται με τη χρήση δέσμης λέιζερ. Η εργασία περιλαμβάνει τον σχεδιασμό και την κατασκευή οργανικών, ανόργανων και υβριδικών μικροδομών για χρήση τους σε εφαρμογές φωτονικής. Επιπρόσθετα, εφαρμόζονται διάφορες τεχνικές για την κατασκευή και αναπαραγωγή φωτονικών περιθλαστικών μικροδομών. Οι δομές ελέγχονται ως λειτουργικοί φωτονικοί αισθητήρες για την ανίχνευση υγρασίας, αμμωνίας και θερμοκρασίας. Ακόμα, πραγματοποιείται μια λεπτομερής μελέτη πάνω στη δημιουργία μικροδομών βασισμένων σε πολυμερή με χρήση δυνάμεων ακτινοβολίας λέιζερ τόσο σε θεωρητικό όσο και σε πειραματικό επίπεδο. Οι δημιουργούμενες δισδιάστατες και τρισδιάστατες μικρο/νανοδομές ελεύθερου χώρου χαρακτηρίζονται οπτικά.

La lumière est incroyable polyvalente pour mesurer toutes sortes de grandeurs physiques : température, champ électrique, déplacement et déformation, etc. Les capteurs photoniques sont des candidats prometteurs pour les développements de nouvelles générations de capteurs en raison de leurs vertus de sensibilité élevée, une grande gamme dynamique, etc. Les capteurs intégrés et ceux placés en bout de fibre sur une couche mince de niobate de lithium seront ici étudiés en explorant l’électro-optique ainsi que les pyro-électronique afin de concevoir des capteurs de champs et de capteurs de température. / Light is incredibly versatile for measuring all kinds of physical quantities :temperature, electric field (E-field), displacement and strain etc. Photonic sensors are promising candidates for the new generation of sensors developments due to their virtues of high sensitivity, large dynamic range and compact size etc. Integrated and on-fiber end photonic sensors on thin film lithium niobate (TFLN) exploring the electro-optic (EO) and pyro-electric effects are studied in this thesis in order to design E-field sensors and temperature sensors (T-sensors). These studies aim to develop sensors with high sensitivity and compact size. To achieve that aim, sensors that are made of photonic crystals (PhC) cavities are studied by sensing the measurand through the resonance wavelength interrogation method. In integrated sensor studies, intensive numerical calculations by PWE method, mode solving technique and FDTD methods are carried out for the design of high light confinement waveguiding structures on TFLN and suitable PhC configurations. Four types of waveguide (WG) structures (ridge WG, strip loaded WG, slot WG and double slot WG) are studied with a large range of geometrical parameters. Among them, slot WG yields the highest confinement factor while strip loaded WG is an easier option for realizations. Bragg grating is designed in slot WG with an ultra compact size (about 0.5µm×0.7µm ×6µm) and is employed to design PhC cavity. A moderate resonance Q of about 300 in F-P like cavity where the mirrors are made of PhC is achieved with ER of about 70% of the transmission. Theoretical minimum E-field sensitivity of this slot Bragg grating structure can be as low as 200 µV/m. On the other hand, Si3N4 strip loaded WG is designed with 2D PhC structure and a low resonance Q of about 100 is achieved. Fabrications of nano-metrical WG such as ridge WG Si3N4 strip loaded are demonstrated. However, the realization of nanometric components on LN presents a big challenge.In the on-fiber end sensor studies, guided resonance, oftentimes referred to as Fano resonance due to its asymmetric lineshape, is studied with different PhC lattice types. A Suzuki phase lattice (SPL) PhC presenting a Fano resonance at the vicinity of 1500 nm has been studied and demonstrated as temperature sensor with sensitivity of 0.77 nm/oC with a size of only 25 µm × 24 µm. In addition, guided resonances on rectangular lattice PhC have been systematically studied through band diagram calculations, 2D-FDTD and 3D- FDTD simulations.

<p><a>The quick, reliable, and sensitive detection of bacterial contamination is desired in areas such as counter bioterrorism, medicine, and food/water safety as pathogens such as<i> E. coli</i> can cause harmful effects with the presence of just a few cells. However, standard high sensitivity techniques require laboratories and trained technicians, requiring significant time and expense. More desirable would be a sensitive point-of-care device that could detect an array of pathogens without sample pre-treatment, or a continuous monitoring device operating without the need for frequent operator intervention.<br> <br> Optical microring resonators in silicon photonic platforms are particularly promising as scalable, multiplexed refractive index sensors for an integrated biosensing array. However, no systematic effort has been made to optimize the sensitivity of microrings for the detection of relatively large discrete analytes such as bacteria, which differs from the commonly considered cases of fluid or molecular sensitivity. This work demonstrates the feasibility of using high finesse microrings to detect whole bacterial cells with single cell resolution over a full range of potential analyte-to-sensor binding scenarios. Sensitivity parameters describing the case of discrete analyte detection are derived and used to guide computational optimization of microrings and their constituent waveguides, after considering a range of parameters such as waveguide dimension, material, modal polarization, and ring radius. The sensitivity of the optimized 2.5 µm radius silicon TM O-band ring is experimentally demonstrated with photoresist cellular simulants. A multiplexed optimized ring array is then shown to detect <i>E. Coli</i> cells in an experimental proof of concept.</a></p>