All-silicon optical temperature sensor based on Multi-Mode Interference.

In this paper we present a novel approach to temperature sensing with optoelectronic devices which relies on the usage of bare silicon as the transducing material. The device is composed by a single mode input waveguide, a MMI region where a number of higher order modes is also allowed to propagate and two output waveguides. The refractive index variation in the MMI section due to temperature shifts induces different phase velocities of the various propagating modes. The position of the input and output waveguides together with the length and width of the MMI section are chosen in order to maximize the sensitivity of the device. Analytical calculations are presented together with BPM simulations aimed to the maximization of the sensitivity of the sensor as a function of its geometries.