Reflection-mode sensing using optical microresonators

Abstract

The authors present an approach for applying optical microring resonators to sensing. The approach relies on the interaction of the resonator with a nanoparticle taggant, which can induce coupling between forward and backward propagating traveling-wave resonant modes of the device. In the conventional four-port Add/Drop filter configuration, such coupling results in significant build-up of output intensity at ports that would normally be “dark.” Because the increased intensity occurs across a wide range of device resonances, the sensor may be interrogated using broadband excitation and with a broadband detector, enabling a low-cost, robust system.