Fabrication and characterization of electro-optic polymer/silicon hybrid MZI for interrogating small signals from an ECG

• Published in: Optics communications Vol. 539; p. 129510
• Main Authors: Li, Hongqiang, Wang, Yingjie, Gao, Tianxue, Cao, Lu, Liu, Yang, An, Zhixuan, Lin, Zhilin, Zhang, Shanshan, Zhang, Zanyun, Zhang, Cheng, Meng, Wentao, Zhu, Zhiyue, Tang, Chunxiao, Li, Enbang, Prades, Joan Daniel
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 15.07.2023
• Subjects: ECG interrogation; Low half-wave voltage; Mach–Zehnder interferometer; Polymer/silicon hybrid; Slow light phase shift; Mach–Zehnder interferometer; Low half-wave voltage; ECG interrogation; Slow light phase shift; Polymer/silicon hybrid
• ISSN: 0030-4018; 1873-0310
• DOI: 10.1016/j.optcom.2023.129510

A Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI) composed of electro-optical polymer/silicon hybrid slot waveguides is reported. The device is designed to be asymmetrical so that the modulator is in a linear workspace when no electric field is applied to the initial operating state. We rely on the fast and strong nonlinearities of CLD-1/PMMA that infiltrates silicon rather than on the slower free-carrier effect in silicon. The modulated arm waveguides are designed in the shape of silicon/polymer hybrid slot waveguides to increase the interaction of the polymer material with the light field. The results show that the loss of the proposed MZI is 3.51 dB with a core size of 420μm  ×  160μm, and the half-wave voltage of the MZI is 2.1 V at 1550 nm, which provides the possibility of application in measuring small signals from an electrocardiogram with the optical principle. •A MZI consisting of EO polymer/silicon mixed slot waveguide was fabricated.•The half-wave voltage of MZI at 1550 nm was 2.1 V with 100 um modulation arm.•The MZI used optical principles to measure small electrocardiogram signals.