Optical interconnect chip with SPR-based photonic crystal waveguide sensor

In this study, we designed a novel optical interconnect chip (OIC) consisting of a Fabry-Perot laser as the light source, surface plasmon resonance (SPR)-based photonic crystal waveguide as a biosensor, and a photodetector (PD). The laser output and responsivity of the photodetector were investigated based on refractive index (RI) of 1.333 and 1.335, corresponding to different urea molarities. The method used to investigate the OIC design is by simulation using INTERCONNECT solver from Lumerical. The laser emits at 800 nm wavelength. The lasing threshold current is 0.015A at output power of 0.0021W whereas the PD has marked responsivity of 1.0 A/W. Increment in the RI value from 1.333 to 1.335 increases the OIC responsivity from 0.4 A/W to 0.8 A/W at a given optical power of 0.025 μW. This OIC design is suitable for biosensor chip in medical applications to detect diseases due to changes in RI.