A PIC Platform for Chemical- and Biosensing: Solutions, Insights, and Capabilities from AIM Photonics

AIM Photonics is a Manufacturing Innovation Institute (MII) whose mission is to develop photonics and packaging technologies, make these technologies available to the industry, and train a skilled workforce. The base photonic integrated circuit (PIC) platform is an “active” SOI PIC technology that supports O-, C-, and L-bands. This technology is made publicly available through multi-project wafer and full wafer runs in our state-of-the-art 300 mm wafer fabrication and packaging facilities. Users may also customize their respective builds. Most sensing applications utilize minimal builds with undoped silicon and silicon nitride passive components; they’re low-cost and well-suited for single-use, disposable sensors.

PIC sensors often work by exposing optical components to chemical or biological substances that bind to the waveguide surface and interact with the transmission mode. The sensitivity to specific chemical agents can be tailored by adding “absorbate” materials to the surface of the optical component(s), thereby selecting which substances will bind to the surface. A SiN-only PIC is offered with low-loss and low-fluorescence waveguides/claddings and with a thick oxide isolating the substrate. To widen the application space, the SiN technology reduces loss at shorter wavelengths (<700 nm), with geometry tuning and index tuning using thermos-optic heaters and thermal isolation. All the AIM Photonics public technology offerings are supported by process design kits (PDKs). The talk will discuss these technologies.

About the presenter
AIM Photonics is a Manufacturing Innovation Institute (MII) whose mission is to develop photonics and packaging technologies, make these technologies available to the industry, and train a skilled workforce. The base photonic integrated circuit (PIC) platform is an “active” SOI PIC technology that supports O-, C-, and L-bands. This technology is made publicly available through multi-project wafer and full wafer runs in our state-of-the-art 300 mm wafer fabrication and packaging facilities. Users may also customize their respective builds. Most sensing applications utilize minimal builds with undoped silicon and silicon nitride passive components; they’re low-cost and well-suited for single-use, disposable sensors.

PIC sensors often work by exposing optical components to chemical or biological substances that bind to the waveguide surface and interact with the transmission mode. The sensitivity to specific chemical agents can be tailored by adding “absorbate” materials to the surface of the optical component(s), thereby selecting which substances will bind to the surface. A SiN-only PIC is offered with low-loss and low-fluorescence waveguides/claddings and with a thick oxide isolating the substrate. To widen the application space, the SiN technology reduces loss at shorter wavelengths (<700 nm), with geometry tuning and index tuning using thermos-optic heaters and thermal isolation. All the AIM Photonics public technology offerings are supported by process design kits (PDKs). The talk will discuss these technologies.