Waveguide-integrated photonic crystal spectrometer with camera readout

Abstract

We demonstrate an infrared spectrometer based on waveguide-coupled nanocavity filters in a planar photonic crystal structure. The input light is coupled into the waveguide, from which spectral components are dropped into the cavities and radiated off-chip for detection on a commercial InGaAs camera. The spectrometer has a footprint of only 60 μm by 8 μm. The spectral resolution is about 1 nm in the operation bandwidth of 1522–1545 nm. By substituting the membrane material and structure parameters, this design can be easily extended into the visible regime and developed for a variety of highly efficient, miniature photonic applications.