Femtosecond laser micromachining of Fabry-Pérot interferometers in fused silica for refractive index sensing

Abstract

A Fabry-Pérot interferometer was fabricated inside a fused silica substrate through femtosecond laser micromachining. The influence of the waveguide's writing parameters on the measured signal's quality was studied for an interferometer with a 27-µm wide cavity. Optimal signal-to-noise ratio and fringe visibility were obtained for waveguides written at 75 nJ and 50 µm/s. The same device was characterized with different refractive index liquids, and a maximum sensitivity of 1181.4±23.6 nm/RIU was obtained in the index range of 1.2962 to 1.3828 (at 1550 nm) for the spectral order o?'š = 46. © 2019 SPIE.