Wavelength-scale stationary-wave integrated Fourier-transform spectrometry

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel, miniaturized stationary-wave integrated Fourier-transform spectrometer that uses near-field detection with optical nanoprobes, significantly reducing size for micro- and nanoscale applications.

Contribution

It presents the first implementation of a very small, integrated 1D spectrometer based on SWIFTS with optical near-field detection, enabling miniaturization.

Findings

Achieved spectrometer volume of a few hundreds of cubic wavelengths

Demonstrated effective sampling of evanescent standing waves

Enabled potential applications in micro- and nanotechnology

Abstract

Spectrometry is a general physical-analysis approach for investigating light-matter interactions. However, the complex designs of existing spectrometers render them resistant to simplification and miniaturization, both of which are vital for applications in micro- and nanotechnology and which are now undergoing intensive research. Stationary-wave integrated Fourier-transform spectrometry (SWIFTS)-an approach based on direct intensity detection of a standing wave resulting from either reflection (as in the principle of colour photography by Gabriel Lippmann) or counterpropagative interference phenomenon-is expected to be able to overcome this drawback. Here, we present a SWIFTS-based spectrometer relying on an original optical near-field detection method in which optical nanoprobes are used to sample directly the evanescent standing wave in the waveguide. Combined with integrated optics, we report a way of reducing the volume of the spectrometer to a few hundreds of cubic wavelengths. This is the first attempt, using SWIFTS, to produce a very small integrated one-dimensional spectrometer suitable for applications where microspectrometers are essential.