Integrated photonic circuits on SOI and SiNOI platforms for high-sensitivity sensing and reconfigurable multi-passband filtering

Zhu, Simeng (2026) Integrated photonic circuits on SOI and SiNOI platforms for high-sensitivity sensing and reconfigurable multi-passband filtering. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

Integrated photonics offers compact and energy-efficient platforms for label-free biochemical sensing and agile spectrum control. This thesis establishes a unified design framework on silicon on insulator (SOI) and silicon nitride on insulator (SiNOI) that links two capabilities: enhancing light-matter interaction for refractometric sensing while constraining excess loss, and realising reconfigurable multi-passband photonic filters with predictable, programmable spectra. The work combines electromagnetic and coupled-mode modelling, reconstruction equivalent chirp design, heater-matrix control, foundry-compatible fabrication, and system-level characterisation using optical frequency comb sources and thermo-optic tuning. It demonstrates that sensitivity enhancement and spectral programmability can be obtained through spatially distributed design and algorithmically coordinated actuation, rather than by accepting large insertion-loss penalties.

For sensing, three-slot hybrid plasmonic waveguides are engineered to localise the evanescent field at the analyte interface while routing most optical power through low-loss analyte sections. This architecture supports stable C-band operation and provides a route to array-scalable sensors intended for monitoring biomolecular binding and concentration changes in microfluidic lab-on-chip diagnostics.

For filtering, phase-shifted sampled Bragg grating devices are synthesised using the reconstruction equivalent chirp (REC) technique to spatially decouple reflection points, enabling independent control of multiple passbands. Integrated micro-heater matrices provide reconfiguration and algorithm-assisted phase synthesis, combining self-adaptive differential evolution with local optimisation, coordinates multi-parameter tuning to obtain low-ripple spectra. Three architectures validate the framework: a dual-passband filter based on coupled phase-shifted cavities, a programmable four-phase shift sampled Bragg grating (4PS-SBG) on SiNOI enabling selectable multi-passband and stopband responses, and a cascaded superstructure grating with a microring resonator enabling optical-domain frequency multiplication and hopping.

Overall, the thesis provides design rules for co-optimising waveguide confinement, photon distribution, and heater matrix control in integrated photonics, underpinning scalable programmable photonic circuits and future heterogeneous integration with on-chip light sources.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Subjects: T Technology > TK Electrical engineering. Electronics Nuclear engineering
• Colleges/Schools: College of Science and Engineering > School of Engineering
• Supervisor's Name: Hou, Professor Lianping and Sweeney, Professor Stephen J.
• Date of Award: 2026
• Depositing User: Theses Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2026-85772
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 20 Feb 2026 10:55
• Last Modified: 21 Feb 2026 12:56
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.85772
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/85772

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