Refractive index sensor based on a 1D photonic crystal in a microfluidic channel

Abstract

A refractive index sensor has been fabricated in silicon oxynitride by standard UV lithography and dry etching processes. The refractive index sensor consists of a 1D photonic crystal (PhC) embedded in a microfluidic channel addressed by fiber-terminated planar waveguides. Experimental demonstrations performed with several ethanol solutions ranging from a purity of 96.00% (n = 1.36356) to 95.04% (n = 1.36377) yielded a sensitivity (/n) of 836 nm/RIU and a limit of detection (LOD) of 6 × 10-5 RIU, which is, however, still one order of magnitude higher than the theoretical lower limit of the limit of detection 1.3 × 10-6 RIU. © 2010 by the authors.