C2N – ispectro

Integrated broadband mid-infrared Fourier-transform spectrometer

Miniaturized on-chip spectrometers covering a wide band of the mid-infrared spectrum have an immense potential for multi-target detection in high-impact applications, such as chemical sensing or environmental monitoring. Specifically, multi-aperture spatial heterodyne Fouriertransform spectrometers (SHFTS) provide high throughput and improved tolerance against fabrication errors, compared to conventional counterparts. Still, state-of-the-art implementations have only shown single-polarization operation in narrow bandwidths within the near and short infrared.

Here, we demonstrate the first, to the best of our knowledge, dual-polarization ultra-wideband SHFTS working beyond 5 μm wavelength. We exploit the unique flexibility in material engineering of the graded-index germanium-rich silicon-germanium (Ge-rich SiGe) photonic platform to implement a SHFTS that can be operated in an unprecedented range of 800 cm−1, showing experimental resolution better than 15 cm−1 for both orthogonal polarizations and free spectral range of 132 cm−1, in the wavelength range between 5 and 8.5 μm. https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01891844v1