Submicron free space optical interferometer

Author

Li, Chian Chiu ; Choy, Oliver C S ; Ho, H.P.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electron. Eng., Chinese Univ. of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

fYear

2008

fDate

8-10 Dec. 2008

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

4

Abstract

We propose a novel submicron optical interferometer for free space applications. A beam is split into two narrow beams by wavefront division. After going through different phase shift, the two beams merge by themselves due to diffraction effect. Because of the self-mixing effect, lens and other discrete components are no longer needed, which enables a simple and ultra-compact structure and a manufacturing process compatible with the semiconductor technology. We use finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations to demonstrate principles of the interferometer and make estimate of the signal-to-noise ratio.

Keywords

finite difference time-domain analysis; light diffraction; light interferometers; optical beam splitters; FDTD simulations; beam splitter; diffraction effect; finite-difference time-domain simulations; lens; phase shift; self-mixing effect; signal-to-noise ratio; submicron free space optical interferometer; wavefront division; Biomedical optical imaging; Finite difference methods; Integrated optics; Interference; Lenses; Optical diffraction; Optical interferometry; Optical sensors; Phase shifting interferometry; Time domain analysis; Optical interferometry; Rayleigh interferometer; Young’s experiment; self-mixing;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Electron Devices and Solid-State Circuits, 2008. EDSSC 2008. IEEE International Conference on

Conference_Location

Hong Kong

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-2539-6

Electronic_ISBN

978-1-4244-2540-2

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/EDSSC.2008.4760726

Filename

4760726