Engineered fano resonances in a compact Si3N4 photonic crystal nanobeam-microring platform for multi-cladding environments

TL;DR

Researchers developed a compact photonic sensor platform that can maintain strong performance in different environments by using engineered Fano resonances.

Contribution

A CMOS-compatible Si3N4 photonic platform is introduced for robust, geometry-driven Fano resonances in multi-cladding environments.

Findings

The platform enables engineered Fano resonances through passive geometric control of a photonic crystal nanobeam and microring.

Devices show high performance metrics like Q_t > 5×10³ and slope responsivity >5 nm⁻¹ in compact footprints.

The design works effectively in both air and aqueous environments without requiring ultra-high Q or extreme extinction ratios.

Abstract

The steep slope of the asymmetric Fano resonance offers potential for enhancing signal readout in compact photonic sensors across gas and liquid environments. However, achieving and controlling Fano resonance shapes on ultra-compact, fabrication-constrained platforms, particularly across variable claddings, remains challenging. We demonstrate a CMOS-compatible Si3N4 photonic platform based on a photonic crystal nanobeam (PhCN) side-coupled to a racetrack microring resonator (MRR), enabling engineered Fano resonances through passive geometric control. By varying the PhCN length and coupling gap, we systematically modulate the interference conditions that define resonance asymmetry and slope. Numerical and experimental results under both air and aqueous claddings show that the cladding-dependent modal transition, from leaky (air) to guided (liquid) backgrounds, enables robust, geometry-driven Fano behavior. A temporal coupled-mode theory model supports the results. The fabricated devices show steep asymmetric lineshapes, with \documentclass[12pt]{minimal}
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\begin{document}$$Q$$\end{document} or extreme ER. Thus, it serves as a design framework for future implementations.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1038/s41598-026-35490-w.

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