We propose and demonstrate an ultrasensitive integrated photonic current sensor that incorporates a silicon- based single-mode-multimode-single-mode waveguide （SMSW） structure. This kind of SMSW structure is placed over a direct current carrying power resistor, which produces Joule＇s heat to change the temperature of the SMSW and further results in the change of the effective refractive index between different propagating modes. Interference occurs when the modes recombine at the second single mode waveguide. Finally, the current variation is measured by monitoring the shift in the output spectrum of the multimode interferometer. In low current, the wavelength shift has almost linear dependence： △ λαIc. This effect can be used as a current sensor with a slope efficiency of 4.24 nm/A in the range of 0-200 mA.
As the transistor's feature scales down and the integration density of the monolithic circuit increases continuously,the traditional metal interconnects face significant performance limitation to meet the stringent demands of high-speed,low-power and low-latency data transmission for on-and off-chip communications.Optical technology is poised to resolve these problems.Due to the complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor(CMOS) compatible process,silicon photonics is the leading candidate technology.Silicon photonic devices and networks have been improved dramatically in recent years,with a notable increase in bandwidth from the megahertz to the multi-gigahertz regime in just over half a decade.This paper reviews the recent developments in silicon photonics for optical interconnects and summarizes the work of our laboratory in this research field.
HU TingQIU ChenYU PingYANG LongZhiWANG WanJunJIANG XiaoQingYANG MeiZHANG LeiYANG JianYi
