Integrated Optical Sensing and Communication (IOSAC) System Based on Hybrid‐Waveguide Structures

Abstract

Advanced silicon photonic technologies enable integrated optical sensing and communication (IOSAC) in real time for the emerging application requirements of simultaneous sensing and communication for next‐generation networks. Herein, an IOSAC system is proposed and demonstrated on the silicon nitride (Si3N4) photonics platform. The IOSAC devices leveraging microring resonators excel in real‐time monitoring of analyte fluctuations and efficiently transmit this data to the terminal, positioning them as viable alternatives to bulk optics in applications that demand both high precision and speed. By directly integrating Si3N4 ring resonators with optical communication networks, simultaneous sensing and optical communication are demonstrated by an optical signal transmission experimental system using especially filtering amplified spontaneous emission spectra. The refractive index (RI) sensing ring with a sensitivity of 172 nm RIU−1, a figure of merit (FOM) of 1220, and a detection limit (DL) of 8.2 × 10−6 RIU is demonstrated. Simultaneously, the 1.25 Gbps optical on‐off‐keying (OOK) signal is transmitted at the concentration of different NaCl solutions, indicating the bit‐error‐ratio (BER) decreases with the increase in concentration. The novel IOSAC technology shows the potential to realize high‐performance simultaneous biosensing and communication in real time and further accelerate the development of IoT and 6G networks.