Low-power optical beam steering by microelectromechanical waveguide gratings

Optical beam steering is key for optical communications, laser mapping (LIDAR), and medical imaging. For these applications, integrated photonics is an enabling technology that can provide miniaturized, lighter, lower cost, and more power efficient systems. However, common integrated photonic devices are too power demanding. Here, we experimentally demonstrate, for the first time, beam steering by microelectromechanical (MEMS) actuation of a suspended silicon photonic waveguide grating. Our device shows up to 5.6{\deg} beam steering with 20 V actuation and a power consumption below the $\mu$W level, i.e. more than 5 orders of magnitude lower power consumption than previous thermo-optic tuning methods. The novel combination of MEMS with integrated photonics presented in this work lays ground for the next generation of power-efficient optical beam steering systems

Real-time label-free biosensing with integrated planar waveguide ring resonators

We review the use of planar integrated optical waveguide ring resonators for label free bio-sensing and present recent results from two European biosensor collaborations: SABIO and InTopSens. Planar waveguide ring resonators are attractive for label-free biosensing due to their small footprint, high Q-factors, and compatibility with on-chip optics and microfluidics. This enables integrated sensor arrays for compact labs-on-chip. One application of label-free sensor arrays is for point-of-care medical diagnostics. Bringing such powerful tools to the single medical practitioner is an important step towards personalized medicine, but requires addressing a number of issues: improving limit of detection, managing the influence of temperature, parallelization of the measurement for higher throughput and on-chip referencing, efficient light-coupling strategies to simplify alignment, and packaging of the optical chip and integration with microfluidics. From the SABIO project we report refractive index measurement and label-free biosensing in an 8-channel slotwaveguide ring resonator sensor array, within a compact cartridge with integrated microfluidics. The sensors show a volume sensing detection limit of 5 × 10-6 RIU and a surface sensing detection limit of 0.9 pg/mm2. From the InTopSens project we report early results on silicon-on-insulator racetrack resonators

The Final Hurdle?: Security of supply, the Capacity Mechanism and the role of interconnectors

The UK Government has developed a carefully designed Capacity Mechanism to ensure security of supply in the GB electricity system. This paper criticises the methods used to determine the amount of capacity to procure, and argues that the amount finally proposed is likely to be excessive, particularly (but not exclusively) in ignoring the contribution from interconnectors. More broadly, there has been too little attention to either the political economy, or the option value aspects. Procuring too little is risky, but fear of'the lights going out' can easily become a catch-all argument for excessive procurement, and associated subsidy. The risk of over-procurement, particularly of new capacity on long-term contracts, is that it drives up the costs to consumers; undermines renewable energy by transferring capped resources from renewable to fossil fuel producers; and impedes the Single Market including by weakening the business case for future interconnectors. The paper argues that the development of technologies and markets, particularly on the demand- side and of potentially available – 'latent' – capacity - further lowers the risks and increases options. This implies greater potential to defer more capacity procurement – and enhances the value of a more appropriate treatment of interconnectors in security assessments

MEMS-enabled silicon photonic integrated devices and circuits

Photonic integrated circuits have seen a dramatic increase in complexity over the past decades. This development has been spurred by recent applications in datacenter communications and enabled by the availability of standardized mature technology platforms. Mechanical movement of wave-guiding structures at the micro- and nanoscale provides unique opportunities to further enhance functionality and to reduce power consumption in photonic integrated circuits. We here demonstrate integration of MEMS-enabled components in a simplified silicon photonics process based on IMEC's Standard iSiPP50G Silicon Photonics Platform and a custom release process

MEMS for Photonic Integrated Circuits

The field of microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) for photonic integrated circuits (PICs) is reviewed. This field leverages mechanics at the nanometer to micrometer scale to improve existing components and introduce novel functionalities in PICs. This review covers the MEMS actuation principles and the mechanical tuning mechanisms for integrated photonics. The state of the art of MEMS tunable components in PICs is quantitatively reviewed and critically assessed with respect to suitability for large-scale integration in existing PIC technology platforms. MEMS provide a powerful approach to overcome current limitations in PIC technologies and to enable a new design dimension with a wide range of applications

Low-voltage silicon photonic MEMS switch with vertical actuation

We present a vertically movable silicon photonic MEMS switch realized in IMEC's standard silicon photonics platform followed by a dedicated postprocessing for MEMS release. The device has six optical ports, which enable four switching configurations with a safe electrical isolation of the switch's actuator. A low actuation voltage of 3.75 V is required to efficiently switch the optical signal from the drop port to the through port of the device. The device exhibits port extinctions of 16 dB and 26 dB at its OFF and ON states, respectively. With an insertion loss of 35 nm, this component paves the way for low-power scalable circuits in MEMS-enabled silicon photonics

Silicon photonic MEMS add-drop filter

We demonstrate a compact add-drop filter based on a MEMS ring resonator implemented in IMEC's iSiPP50G silicon photonics platform. The device exhibits a port extinction of 20 dB and a port isolation of > 50 dB, upon actuation range of 0 V to 27 V

PERANCANGAN ALAT PENJEJAK MATAHARI PADA APLIKASI PEMBANGKIT LISTRIK TENAGA SURYA

Penggunaan panel sel surya sebagai sumber energi utama sudah banyak dikembangkan a ikasi industri maupun pada aplikasi rumah tangga. Namun penggunaan panel sel surya tersebut lebih banyak difokuskan sebagai sumber energi terbarukan dan ramah lingkungan. Penelitian-penelitian untuk mengkaji bagaimana mengefisiensikan penggunaan panel surya sebagai surnber energi utama belum banyak dilakukan. Penelitian ini mengkaji bagaimana mengefisiensikan penggunaan panel sel surya melalui rangkaian sistem alat yang disebut alat penjejak matahari. _Alat penjejak matahari yang akan dirancang menggunakan sensor LDR sebagai komponen deteksi arah pergerakan matahari yang dikendalikan secara otomatis oleh mikro konntroller AVR Atmega 2560. Hasil pengujian menunjukkan penggunaan rancangan alat penjajak matahari dapat meningkatkan rata-rata proseniase tegangan keluaran sel surya bisa mencapai 188% bila dibandingkan dengan kondisi sebelum panel sel surya menggunakan sistem alat penjajak matahar

Integrated slot-waveguide microresonator for biochemical sensing

A novel integrated biochemical sensor based on a slot-waveguide [1] microring resonator is demonstrated. The microresonator is fabricated on a Si3N4/SiO2 material platform [2] by using conventional microfabrication techniques, such as Si thermal oxidation, chemical vapour deposition, electron-beam lithography and reactive ion etching. The sensor consists of a 70-μm-radius ring resonator formed by a slot-waveguide [1] having a slot-width of 200 nm. The operation wavelength is 1.3 μm. The device is exposed to different water-ethanol solutions and its transmission spectrum is measured. A linear shift of the resonant wavelength with increasing ambient refractive index of 212 nm/refractive index units (RIU) is observed. This value is more than twice larger than those of strip-waveguide ring resonator biochemical sensors, indicating that higher analyte-probe light interaction occurs in our slot-waveguide sensor as compared to those based on conventional strip waveguides. The sensor detects a minimal refractive index variation of 2x10-4 RIU, limited by the wavelength resolution of the light source (50 pm). Simulations indicate that the slot region is partially filled when the sensor is exposed to an aqueous solution. We also demonstrate the capability of our sensor to measure higher index fluids such as isopropanol (n=1.37) and cyclohexane (n=1.42)