Dual slow-light enhanced photothermal gas spectroscopy on a silicon chip

Kaiyuan Zheng, Zihang Peng, Hanyu Liao, Yijun Huang, Haihong Bao, Shuangxiang Zhao, Yu Zhang, Chuantao Zheng (), Yiding Wang and Wei Jin ()
Additional contact information
Kaiyuan Zheng: Jilin University, State Key Laboratory of Integrated Optoelectronics, College of Electronic Science and Engineering
Zihang Peng: Jilin University, State Key Laboratory of Integrated Optoelectronics, College of Electronic Science and Engineering
Hanyu Liao: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Photonics Research Institute
Yijun Huang: Jilin University, State Key Laboratory of Integrated Optoelectronics, College of Electronic Science and Engineering
Haihong Bao: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Photonics Research Institute
Shuangxiang Zhao: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Photonics Research Institute
Yu Zhang: Jilin University, State Key Laboratory of Integrated Optoelectronics, College of Electronic Science and Engineering
Chuantao Zheng: Jilin University, State Key Laboratory of Integrated Optoelectronics, College of Electronic Science and Engineering
Yiding Wang: Jilin University, State Key Laboratory of Integrated Optoelectronics, College of Electronic Science and Engineering
Wei Jin: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Photonics Research Institute

Nature Communications, 2025, vol. 16, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: Abstract Integrated photonic sensors have attracted significant attention recently for their potential for high-density integration. However, they face challenges in sensing gases with high sensitivity due to weak light-gas interaction. Slow light, which dramatically intensifies light-matter interaction through spatial compression of optical energy, provides a promising solution. Herein, we demonstrate a dual slow-light scheme for enhancing the sensitivity of photothermal spectroscopy (PTS) with a suspended photonic crystal waveguide (PhCW) on a CMOS-compatible silicon platform. By tailoring the dispersion of the PhCW to generate structural slow light to enhance pump absorption and probe phase modulation, we achieve a photothermal efficiency of 3.6 × 10−4 rad·cm·ppm−1 · mW−1 · m−1, over 1 − 3 orders of magnitude higher than the strip waveguides and optical fibers. With a 1-mm-long sensing PhCW incorporated in a stabilized on-chip Mach-Zehnder interferometer with a footprint of 0.6 mm2, we demonstrate acetylene detection with a sensitivity of 1.4 × 10−6 in terms of noise-equivalent absorption and length product (NEA · L), the best among the reported photonic waveguide gas sensors to our knowledge. The dual slow-light enhanced PTS paves the way for integrated photonic gas sensors with high sensitivity, miniaturization, and cost-effective mass production.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-65583-5 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-65583-5

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-65583-5

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().