Sanna Aikio

Polymeric slot waveguide interferometer for sensor applications

A refractive index sensor based on slot waveguide Young interferometer was developed in this work. The interferometer was fabricated on a polymer platform and operates at a visible wavelength of 633 nm. The phase shift of the interference pattern was measured with various concentrations of glucose-water solutions, utilizing both TE and TM polarization states. The sensor was experimentally observed to detect a refractive index difference of 6.4 × 10(-6) RIU. Furthermore, the slot Young interferometer was found to compensate for temperature variations. The results of this work demonstrate that high performance sensing capability can be obtained with a polymeric slot Young interferometer, which can be fabricated by a simple molding process.

Disposable photonic integrated circuits for evanescent wave sensors by ultra-high volume roll-to-roll method

Flexible photonic integrated circuit technology is an emerging field expanding the usage possibilities of photonics, particularly in sensor applications, by enabling the realization of conformable devices and introduction of new alternative production methods. Here, we demonstrate that disposable polymeric photonic integrated circuit devices can be produced in lengths of hundreds of meters by ultra-high volume roll-to-roll methods on a flexible carrier. Attenuation properties of hundreds of individual devices were measured confirming that waveguides with good and repeatable performance were fabricated. We also demonstrate the applicability of the devices for the evanescent wave sensing of ambient refractive index. The production of integrated photonic devices using ultra-high volume fabrication, in a similar manner as paper is produced, may inherently expand methods of manufacturing low-cost disposable photonic integrated circuits for a wide range of sensor applications.

Hybrid layered polymer slot waveguide Young interferometer.

We demonstrate a polymer slot waveguide Young interferometer coated with a bilayer of Al2O3/TiO2. The approach enables relaxed dimensions of the polymer waveguide which simplifies the fabrication of the structure with a resolution of 50 nm. The layers were coated by an atomic layer deposition technique. The feasibility of the device was investigated by exploiting the interferometric structure as a bulk refractive index sensor operating at 975 nm wavelength for detection of an ethanol-water solution. A refractive index change of 1 × 10-6 RIU with a sensing length of only 800 µm was detected. The approach confirms the possibility of realizing a low cost device with a small footprint and enhanced sensitivity by employing the TiO2 rails in the sides of the slot waveguide.

Add-on laser reading device for a camera phone

A novel add-on device to a mobile camera phone has been developed. The prototype system contains both laser and LED illumination as well as imaging optics. Main idea behind the device is to have a small printable diffractive ROM (Read Only Memory) element, which can be read by illuminating it with a laser-beam and recording the resulting datamatrix pattern with a camera phone. The element contains information in the same manner as a traditional bar-code, but due to the 2D-pattern and diffractive nature of the tag, a much larger amount of information can be packed on a smaller area. Optical and mechanical designs of the prototype device have been made in such a way that the system can be used in three different modes: as a laser reader, as a telescope and as a microscope.

Disposable (bio)chemical integrated optical waveguide sensors implemented on roll-to-roll produced platforms

To enable wide spread dissemination of sensors in cost-critical applications and resource poor settings, methods to implement sensor chips using low-cost materials and mass-manufacturing methods are developed. In this paper we demonstrate that disposable polymeric integrated Young interferometer (YI) sensor chips, implemented on roll-to-roll mass-manufactured waveguides, are applicable for analyte specific sensing of small molecules and for multi-analyte detection of biomolecules. For the chemical sensing of small molecules, a sensor chip was functionalized with a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP). We demonstrate that the MIP receptor layer is compatible with a polymer-based evanescent wave sensor for direct refractive index sensing. For multi-analyte detection of biomolecules, antibody-based receptor layers were patterned by inkjet printing onto the sensor surface demonstrating the applicability of the method with integrated YI chips. Demonstration of the analyte specific chemical- and biosensing with disposable polymeric YI sensor chips opens new possibilities to implement low-cost (bio)chemical sensors.

Compensation of drift by using a multichannel integrated Young interferometer

Polymer-based integrated Young interferometer (YI) sensor chips have proven to be sensitive and have potential to be mass-manufactured. The sensing method is however, disturbed by the mechanical drifts, thus requiring well stabilized and isolated measurement setups that limit its applicability to low-cost readers for rapid diagnostics. In this paper we derive a method for the compensation of mechanical drift by using a multichannel integrated YI chip having two reference channels. The compensation method was demonstrated by quantitative measurements with a three-channel integrated polymeric YI sensor chip using an undisturbed and a mechanically disturbed setup. By applying the compensation method, the intrinsic drift of the undisturbed setup was reduced up to 84%. With the mechanically disturbed setup, the sample-induced phase-change responses were separated up to a 161 times larger disturbed signal.

Influence of an Al2O3 surface coating on the response of polymeric waveguide sensors

The responses of a polymer ridge waveguide Young interferometer with and without a bilayer of Al2O3/TiO2, fabricated by atomic layer deposition, are studied and compared when applied as an aqueous chemical sensor. The phase shift of the guided mode, as a result of the change in refractive index of the cover medium, is monitored. The results indicate that the over-coating affects the linearity of the sensor response. The effect of concentration on the linearity of the sensor response is investigated by applying different concentrations of water-ethanol solution. Although the performance of the sensor is improved by the additional layers, the study reveals a non-monotonic behavior of the device. We show that it comes mainly from the adsorption of ethanol molecules on the surface of the films. Such an understanding of the platform is crucial for sensing of analytes involving polar molecules.

Toward large-area roll-to-roll printed nanophotonic sensors

Polymers have become an important material group in fabricating discrete photonic components and integrated optical devices. This is due to their good properties: high optical transmittance, versatile processability at relative low temperatures and potential for low-cost production. Recently, nanoimprinting or nanoimprint lithography (NIL) has obtained a plenty of research interest. In NIL, a mould is pressed against a substrate coated with a moldable material. After deformation of the material, the mold is separated and a replica of the mold is formed. Compared with conventional lithographic methods, imprinting is simple to carry out, requires less-complicated equipment and can provide high-resolution with high throughput. Nanoimprint lithography has shown potential to become a method for low-cost and high-throughput fabrication of nanostructures. We show the development process of nano-structured, large-area multi-parameter sensors using Photonic Crystal (PC) and Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) methodologies for environmental and pharmaceutical applications. We address these challenges by developing roll-to-roll (R2R) UV-nanoimprint fabrication methods. Our development steps are the following: Firstly, the proof of concept structures are fabricated by the use of wafer-level processes in Si-based materials. Secondly, the master molds of successful designs are fabricated, and they are used to transfer the nanophotonic structures into polymer materials using sheet-level UV-nanoimprinting. Thirdly, the sheet-level nanoimprinting processes are transferred to roll-to-roll fabrication. In order to enhance roll-to-roll manufacturing capabilities, silicone-based polymer material development was carried out. In the different development phases, Photonic Crystal and SERS sensor structures with increasing complexities were fabricated using polymer materials in order to enhance sheet-level and roll-to-roll manufacturing processes. In addition, chemical and molecular imprint (MIP) functionalization methods were applied in the sensor demonstrators. In this paper, the process flow in fabricating large-area nanophotonic structures by the use of sheet-level and roll-to-roll UV- nanoimprinting is reported.

Ray-tracing simulations of free-space optical channels for impulse response studies of indoor data links

Free-space optical transmission provides large bandwidth, small size, lightweight, low cost and good security. Diffuse IR link configuration is also rather robust against shadowing. Its disadvantages are, however, bandwidth degradation due to multipath dispersion, sensitivity to ambient light and limited transmission distance due to the limitations of optical power budget. To specify the bandwidth and power budget requirements of the diffuse link, we performed ray-trace simulations for different room geometries and dimensions, and different transmitter and receiver locations. We considered both diffuse and specular reflections as well as shadowing and reflection effects due to blocking objects, such as furniture. The simulations were verified by analytically calculating the impulse response in simple diffuse reflection geometry. We also analyzed stray light induced shot noise effects. Furthermore, we simulated some properties of a quasi-diffuse link comprising of multi- beam transmitters with restricted beam divergences as well as detectors with narrow fields of view. Based on the study, novel Monte Carlo ray-tracing software packages, such as ASAP, can be used for diffuse link multipath dispersion and optical power path loss analysis. Ray tracing can also be used for parallel channel crosstalk and stray light analysis. Potential applications for these system are high- bit-rate wireless LANs and free-space optical interconnects.

Polymer and composite polymer slot waveguides

A fully polymer slot Young interferometer operating at 633 nm wavelength was fabricated by using nanoimprint molding method. The phase response of the interference pattern was measured with several concentrations of glucose-water solutions, utilizing both TE and TM polarization states. The sensor was experimentally found to detect a bulk refractive index change of 6.4×10-6 RIU. Temperature dependency of silicon slot waveguide has been demonstrated to be reduced with composite slot waveguide structure. The slot filled with thermally stable polymer having negative thermo-optic coefficient showed nearly an athermal operation of silicon slot waveguide. Experimental results show that the slot waveguide geometry covered with Ormocomp has thermo-optical coefficient of 6 pm/K.