Optical temperature sensor and use of same

• US 9,726,553 B2
• Filed: 06/11/2014
• Issued: 08/08/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 06/11/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: National Institute of Standards and Technology (Government of the United States of America), University of Maryland
• Original Assignee: THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AS REPRESENTED BY THE SECRETARY OF COMMERCE
• Inventors: Ahmed, Zeeshan, Semancik, Steve, Taylor, Jacob M, Fan, Jingyun, Hafezi, Mohammad, Xu, Haitan, Strouse, Gregory
• Primary Examiner(s): Verbitsky, Gail Kaplan
• Application Number:
  US14/301,921
• Publication Number:
  US 20140321502A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,154 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G01K 11/00 Measuring temperature based upon physical or chemical changes not covered by groups G01K3/00, G01K5/00, G01K7/00 or G01K9/00
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 2006/12107 Grating
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/29338 Loop resonators

Abstract

A thermometer includes a substrate; an optical resonator disposed on the substrate and including an optical resonance, the optical resonator being configured to receive a resonant frequency corresponding to the optical resonance; and a waveguide disposed on the substrate proximate to the optical resonator to receive input light, to communicate the resonant frequency to the optical resonator, and to transmit output light; wherein an aperture is interposed between: the substrate and the optical resonator, the substrate and the waveguide, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing, and the thermometer is configured to change the optical resonance in response to a change in temperature of the optical resonator.

Claims

1. A thermometer comprising:

a substrate;

an optical resonator disposed on the substrate and comprising an optical resonance, the optical resonator being configured to receive a resonant frequency corresponding to the optical resonance; and

a waveguide comprising an aperture disposed on the substrate proximate to the optical resonator to receive input light, to communicate the resonant frequency to the optical resonator, and to transmit output light;

wherein the aperture is interposed between;

the substrate and the optical resonator,

the substrate and the waveguide, or

a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing, and

the thermometer is configured to change the optical resonance in response to a change in temperature of the optical resonator.

2. The thermometer of claim 1, further comprising a thermal member disposed on the substrate to change the optical resonance.

3. The thermometer of claim 1, further comprising an auxiliary waveguide disposed on the substrate opposing the waveguide, wherein the optical resonator is interposed between the waveguide and the auxiliary waveguide.

4. The thermometer of claim 1, wherein an aperture is disposed in the waveguide proximate to the resonator.

5. The thermometer of claim 1, wherein the waveguide comprises a Bragg coupler, an end coupler, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing disposed at a terminus of the waveguide.

6. The thermometer of claim 1, wherein the optical resonator comprises a ring resonator, a concave disk resonator, a photonic waveguide, disk resonator, a microsphere resonator, a photonic array, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing.

7. The thermometer of claim 6, wherein the optical resonator is the ring resonator and comprises a substantially uniform width with respect to a radial dimension of the ring resonator.

8. The thermometer of claim 1, wherein the input light comprises a wavelength from 200 nm to 10 μ

m.

9. The thermometer of claim 1, wherein the resonant frequency comprises a wavelength from 200 nm to 10 μ

m.

10. The thermometer of claim 1, wherein the output light comprises a reduced transmission of the resonant frequency with respect to the input light.

11. The thermometer of claim 1, wherein a distance between the optical resonator and the waveguide is less than or equal to 300 nm.

12. The thermometer of claim 1, wherein the optical resonator comprises an outer diameter from 9 μ

m to 900 μ

m.

13. The thermometer of claim 1, wherein the thermometer is configured to measure a temperature from 300 milliKelvin (mK) to 500 K.

14. The thermometer of claim 1, wherein the thermometer is configured to measure a temperature, wherein an uncertainty in a measured temperature is less than or equal to 10 mK.

15. The thermometer of claim 1, wherein the thermometer has a temperature resolution greater than or equal to 1 mK.

16. The thermometer of claim 1, wherein the thermometer is configured to operate stably in presence of a perturbing vibration.

17. The thermometer of claim 1, wherein the thermometer is configured to self-calibrate, self-diagnose, or a combination comprising at least one of the foregoing.