Research Article Vol. 62, No.

23 / 10 August 2023 / Applied Optics 6205

Nested micro-ring refractive index sensor based

on a subwavelength grating waveguide and
the Vernier effect
Xinyu Shi,1 Ming Chen,1, * Renjie Li,1 Xiangyang Wang,1 Wenhao Han,1 Wanli Zhao,1
Jinbiao Liu,2 Chuanxin Teng,1 Shijie Deng,1 Yu Cheng,1 AND Libo Yuan1
1
Guangxi Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Information Processing, School of Optoelectronic Engineering, Guilin University of Electronic
Technology, Guilin 541004, China
2
The 34th Research Institute of China Electronics Technology Group Corporation, Guilin 541004, China
*mchenqq2011@163.com

Received 22 May 2023; revised 13 July 2023; accepted 14 July 2023; posted 17 July 2023; published 4 August 2023

In this paper, a nested micro-ring refractive index sensor based on a subwavelength grating waveguide and the
Vernier effect is proposed. In this scheme, the nested micro-ring structure is combined with a subwavelength
grating structure to enhance the contact area between the optical field and the analyte, and the wavelength
offset is doubled through the Vernier effect. The proposed sensor can effectively increase sensing sensitivity,
taking into account the improvement of the free spectral range. This structure enables the device to reach a sen-
sitivity of 8030 nm/RIU near 1550 nm wavelength in a deionized water environment, with a detection limit of
5.659 × 10−5 RIU and free spectral range of 41.956 nm. The device suggested in this study has a greater reduced
footprint than the conventional micro-ring resonant sensor, measuring just 35 µm × 25 µm. Due to its high inte-
gration, high sensitivity, and large free spectral range compared to conventional micro-ring resonant sensors, such
structures are of great value in biosensing and environmental monitoring. © 2023 Optica Publishing Group
https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.496107

1. INTRODUCTION resonance effect of the MRR leads to continuous circulation of

Sensing technology as one of the three pillars of information
technology has been widely used in various industries [1]. Due
to the booming development of sensing technologies, the rise
of silicon-based integrated optical devices, and significant
improvements in fabrication processes, various industries are
proposing higher requirements for sensor devices. Conventional
sensor devices are bulky with low integration and weak immu-
nity to electromagnetic interference [2], and cannot meet the
market demand well. Optical resonator sensing based on a
silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform shows great promise in
medical clinical diagnostic analysis [3], environmental mon-
itoring [4], biometrics [5], and food quality [6]. Two types of
sensors have been reported in the literature so far, namely, a
marker sensor [7] and marker-free sensor [8]. Between them,
label-based sensors have drawbacks such as expensive equip-
ment, complicated testing steps, and contamination of the
object to be tested, while label-free sensors can save the step
of labeling the object to be tested and are easy to operate and
low in cost. They have received extensive attention from the
industry. Mach–Zehnder interferometers [9], grating type [10]
micro-disk resonators [11], micro-ring resonators (MRRs)
[12], and other silicon-based resonant structures have been
used for optical sensing. Among them, the introduction of the
the optical signal in the resonator, a process that is equivalent
to an increase in the sensing length. Therefore, optical sensor
devices designed based on MRR structures have attracted the
interest of researchers. Silicon waveguides are strongly confined
waveguides that confine light propagation in the medium, the
evanescent field at the device surface is weak, and the interaction
between the MRR and the cladding analyte is constrained.
Consequently, the sensitivity of planar single-ring silicon-
based MRR [13] refractive index sensors is usually of the order
of 10 to 102 . Through modification and optimization, such
as the introduction of slit waveguides [14], etching periodic
subwavelength-sized air holes on ordinary micro-rings [15], cas-
cading MRRs [16,17], and other methods, the sensitivity of the
sensor can be increased to the order of 103 to 105 orders of mag-
nitude. The proposed circular subwavelength grating (SWG)
waveguide micro-ring and trapezoidal silicon block-based SWG
waveguide micro-ring [18–21] effectively increase the contact
area between the light and the measurement object, which
improves the problem of increasing bending loss as the bending
radius of the micro-ring decreases. However, while increasing
the sensitivity of the device, it will also face a reduction in the
free spectral range (FSR).

1559-128X/23/236205-07 Journal © 2023 Optica Publishing Group

 6206 Vol. 62, No. 23 / 10 August 2023 / Applied Optics
From the existing research, there is still a lot of room for
improvement in device integration and sensing performance
for sensor devices designed and manufactured based on the
MRR structure. An innovative kind of refractive index sensing
device is suggested in this paper. This structure is referred to as
the “nested SWG micro-ring resonance sensor” (SWGNMRR).
The sensor device design is structured to meet the requirements
of high integration while realizing a wide refractive index sensing
range and high sensitivity. The sensitivity of the sensor device is
improved by introducing SWG structure and a reference ring.
The negative impact of the nested micro-ring radius on the
sensing range is avoided by the U-shaped nested ring design.
Outstanding performance and great integration are features of
the designed structure.
2. THEORETICAL MODEL AND ANALYSIS
The SWGNMRR sensor device’s overall structure is schemati-
cally depicted in Fig. 1(a), where the yellow area is the sensing
region covered with the cladding layer of the substance to be
measured. A section of the gradient coupling area composed
of a wedge structure is added between the straight waveguides.
The wedge structure optimizes the mode transition between the
fundamental mode of the strip waveguide and the Bragg mode
of the subwavelength waveguide and reduces the coupling loss
caused by the mode field mismatch. Glucose solutions with
different reference concentrations are used as the test material
(assuming an initial n = 1.333 and a refractive index variation
range of 1.333–1.343 for the cladding solution to be measured
on the sensing region, with a variation step of 0.005). The
width of the SOI substrate in this system is shown in Fig. 1(b) as
wSiO2 = 25 µm, length lSiO2 = 35 µm, thickness dSiO2 = 2 µm,
height of the silicon in the structure dSi = 220 nm, and width
wSi for a rectangular silicon strip. The period and duty cycle
of the SWG are 3 and f , width of the trapezoidal silicon strip
is wSi , top edge of the silicon strip is b Si and bottom edge is
a Si , radius of the micro-ring is R1 = 5.044 µm, radius of the
U-shaped waveguide is R2 , length between the micro-ring
coupling point and U-shaped waveguide is L1 , and coupling
gap between the SWG micro-ring and straight waveguide
gap1 = 125 nm. The structure was modeled using the simu-
lation program Ansys Lumerical FDTD, and it was analyzed
using the time domain difference finite method, working in the
Fig. 1. (a) Structure of the SWGNMRR refractive index sensor device. (b) Top structure detail of the SWGNMRR refractive index sensor
device SOI.
Research Article
wavelength range of 1500–1600 nm, utilizing TE mode light
source incidence, and the simulation time was set to 105 fs.
A. Subwavelength Grating Structure
In the strip waveguide cavity type sensor, the waveguide has
a weak evanescent field and a small interaction area with the
cladding material, which leads to low sensitivity. The introduc-
tion of the SWG structure increases the contact area between
the evanescent field and the material to be measured, which can
effectively improve sensitivity. A SWG is a grating structure
in which high-refractive-index materials are arranged alter-
nately with low-refractive-index materials according to a certain
period. It is now widely used in SOI platforms. According to
photonic crystal theory [22], when adjusting its 3  λ, the
reflection and diffraction effects of the grating are suppressed
[23], and light waves can propagate between the two media
when the discontinuity of the grating waveguide can be ignored
and regarded as an equivalent medium with a low refractive
index. The equivalent refractive index can be changed in a flex-
ible manner by changing the duty cycle. Considering that the
SWG operates in the straight-through state, it can be equated
to a conventional straight waveguide in the study for the con-
venience of analysis. The refractive index n of the continuous
equivalent waveguide is expressed as n Si,eq = f 1n + n Sio2
[24]. The relationship between the equivalent refractive index
and duty cycle of the grating in TE TM modes is shown in
Fig. 2(a). Based on the equivalent medium theory, the equiva-
lent refractive indices n TE and n TM for TE and TM modes in
the first-order approximation when light is incident along the
1
z direction can be expressed as n TE = [(1 − f )n 2l + f n 2g ] 2 ,
 f 1
n TM = 1− n2
+ nf2 2 , where n g and n l are the refractive indices
l g
of Si and the object to be measured, respectively.
The sensitivity represents the change of the measured signal
with the refractive index of the substance to be measured and is
usually expressed as S, defined as Ss = 1λ res
1n c
, where 1λres is the
amount of change in resonant frequency, and 1n c is the amount
of change in the refractive index of the substance to be measured.
Figure 2(b) is the sensitivity of the SWG waveguide structure
at 1550 nm with f = 0.7, f = 0.8, and f = 0.9. As the con-
finement capacity of the SWG waveguide for the beam decreases
as f increases during the design of the grating structure, this
 Research Article
Fig. 2. (a) Image of the equivalent refractive index of the grating as a function of the duty cycle in TE mode and TM mode, and (b) sensitivity of the
subwavelength grating waveguide structure at 1550 nm with f = 0.7, f = 0.8, and f = 0.9.
Fig. 3. (a) Mode field distribution of the subwavelength grating structure at 1550 nm; (b) sensitivity and the extinction ratio (ER) of the sensor
device at different coupling gaps.
implies an increase in sensitivity but also an increase in loss. We
select f = 0.7, 3 = 360 nm, and w = 500 nm for the silicon
column size in consideration of the inverse correlation between
sensitivity and optical loss.
In a periodic waveguide, the electric field of Bloch mode can
be represented as a plane wave along the propagation direction,
which is similar to the propagation of light, as shown in Fig. 3(a).
According to Bloch’s theorem, a periodic waveguide can support
loss-free Bloch mode propagation for shorter subwavelength
periods. At this time, the energy is mainly distributed along the
outer edge, and the analyte and light field interaction region is
enhanced. As the radius decreases, the FSR increases, leading
to an increase in bending loss. To reduce the bending loss of
the micro-ring, trapezoidal silicon pillars are used instead of
rectangular silicon pillars in the ring structure, and the dimen-
sions of the trapezoidal silicon pillars are aSi = 220 nm and
bSi = 280 nm. The sensitivity represents the change of the
measured signal with the refractive index of the substance to be
measured and is usually expressed as S, defined as Ss = 1λ res
, width at half height maximum of the resonant peak width.
1n c
where 1λres is the amount of change in resonant frequency,
and 1n c is the amount of change in the refractive index of the
substance to be measured. Figure 3(b) shows the sensitivity and
extinction ratio (ER) of the sensor device at different coupling
gaps. Observe that the critical coupling point is reached when
the coupling gap is taken as gap1 = 125 nm, where the device
has the best sensing.
Vol. 62, No. 23 / 10 August 2023 / Applied Optics 6207
B. U-Shaped Nested Micro-Ring Structure
Based on the complementarity of the output spectra of the
traditional add–drop type MRR at port add and port drop, the
U-shaped waveguide is connected through the drop port and
add port to form a U-shaped waveguide, whose length is an
integral multiple of the circumference of the micro-ring and
increases loss value if it is too long. In this paper, the U-shaped
waveguide and the micro-ring circumference are equal to L. The
FSR represents the interval between the resonant wavelengths
of two adjacent resonant stages when the micro-ring radius
is constant and is calculated by the equation FSR = 1λ =
λ d n
−1 λn d n
−1
m
1 − 2πmR d λeff = meff n eff − λ d λeff , where λ is the
wavelength, n eff is the effective refractive index of the wave-
guide, and m is the resonant stage. The quality factor Q
denotes the number of resonances used to consume the light
energy circulating in the micro-ring to the initial value 1e ,
√
πn L t t α λres
and is calculated by the equation Q = λresg(1−t11t22α) = FWHM ,
where λres is the resonant wavelength, and FWHM is the full
Figure 4(a) shows the transmission spectra of SWGNMRR
and conventional add–drop sensor devices. It can be found
that the nested ring structure can effectively improve the FSR
compared to the conventional add–drop MRR. Figure 4(b)
shows the transmission spectra of the SWGNMRR refractive
index sensor device at room temperature T = 25◦ C for the
solution to be measured at n = 1.333 with resonance wave-
lengths of 1516.0129 nm, 1536.9837 nm, 1558.644 nm, and
 6208 Vol. 62, No. 23 / 10 August 2023 / Applied Optics
Fig. 4. (a) FSR1 for the improved U-shaped nested micro-ring-resonator-based sensor device and FSR2 for the conventional add–drop micro-ring-
resonator-based sensor device. (b) Transmission spectra of SWGNMRR with a duty cycle of 0.7 in the solution to be measured at n = 1.333, with a
FSR of 42 nm and Q = 11643.82.
Fig. 5. (a) Decomposition of the coupling region of the U-shaped nested ring structure. (b)–(e) Distances between the two coupling points of the
micro-ring are sequentially selected as L1 = 5R, 25R, 35R, and 45R.
1582.0699 nm, and FSR = 42 nm; resonance wavelength λres1
is the quality factor Q = 11484.950 at 1516.0129 nm, and
quality factor Q = 11643.815 at the resonant wavelength λres2
of 1536.9837 nm, so the wavelength of 1536.9837 nm is chosen
for the subsequent sensitivity analysis. The refractive indices of
the solutions to be measured in the upper cladding of the sensing
region vary in the range of 1.333–1.343 in steps of 0.005.
Figure 5(a) shows the coupling domain decomposition of
U-shaped nested ring structures. The distances between the two
coupling points of the micro-ring are sequentially selected as
L1 = 5R, 25R, 35R, and 45R, as shown in Figs. 5(b)–5(e).
Considering the transmission loss and size in practical appli-
cations, we choose the length of the U-shaped waveguide to
be 25R.
The optical signal passing through the through port produces
ϕ = β L 1 (β is the transmission constant) phase change and then
reloads to the add port, interfering with the optical signal output
from the original drop port, with constructive interference and
destructive interference alternating at the resonant wavelength.
Constructive interference prevents filtering, and destructive
interference makes the extinction phenomenon there apparent.
Research Article
Figure 6(a) depicts the transmission spectra of SWGNMRR in
solutions to be tested with refractive indices n = 1.333 (black
line), n = 1.338 (green line), and n = 1.343 (red line). It has
been discovered that when the refractive index of the solution
being measured changes, the resonance wavelengths of the
transmission spectral lines of the SWGNMRR refractive index
sensor are 1536.9837 nm, 1540.9837 nm, and 1544.9837 nm,
respectively. The trend of the transmission spectral line remains
the same as that at n = 1.333, but the spectral line is shifted to
the right frequency as a whole. For every 0.005 change in the
refractive index, the solution causes a 4 nm shift in the resonance
frequencies. Following the analysis of the output spectrum,
the sensitivity image is shown in Fig. 6(b), with a sensitivity of
800 nm/RIU.
C. SWGNMRR Cascaded Reference Ring
It is challenging to continue to improve sensor performance due
to the relatively modest spectral offset of the measured object
by conventional sensor devices. Figure 7 shows the U-shaped
nested ring sensor component structure after the cascaded ref-
erence ring (Re-ring). The coupling gap between the reference
 Research Article Vol. 62, No. 23 / 10 August 2023 / Applied Optics 6209

Fig. 6. (a) Transmission spectrum of SWGNMRR in the solution to be measured within the solutions with refractive indices of n = 1.333,
n = 1.338, and n = 1.343. (b) Sensitivity of the SWGNMRR refractive index sensor device.

Fig. 7. (a) U-shaped nested ring sensor component structure after the cascaded reference ring. The yellow part is the sensing area, which is in con-
tact with the object to be measured. Transmission spectra of the (a) sensing ring and (b) reference ring, each independently, and (c) transmission spec-
tra of the SWGNMRR structure.

ring and straight waveguide gap2 = 120 nm, and the radius of
the reference ring R3 = 5 µm. Only the sensing area is covered
by the object to be measured. The light that satisfies the refer-
ence ring’s resonant wavelength requirement is coupled into
the reference ring, and the light that does not meet this require-
ment travels through the subwavelength rectangular grating
waveguide and into the sensing ring of the sensing area before
being output through the output port of the straight waveguide
below. In the actual operation of the sensor, it mainly relies on
the change of the refractive index of the sensing environment
by the micro-ring in the sensing working area, resulting in
the change of the resonance wavelength, which is intuitively
reflected as the change of the output spectrum of the structure.
From Figs. 7(b) and 7(c), the resonance valleys appear at λs1 and
λs2 wavelengths in the transmission spectrum of the sensing ring Fig. 8. Transmission spectral line after the cascaded reference ring of
when the initial refractive index of the solution to be measured the SWGNMRR structure; 1λa is the frequency shift distance of the
is n = 1.333 at room temperature of 25◦ C. When the refractive wavelength at 1n = 0.0025.
index of the solution to be measured is changed 1n = 0.0025,
the resonance peak of the sensing ring is frequency shifted at a λc2 of the reference ring coincides with λs4 after the refractive
distance of 1λs , at which time the transmission valleys appear at index of the solution is changed by 1n. Figure 8 shows the
λs3 and λs4 wavelengths. The transmission spectra of the sensing transmission spectral line image after cascading the reference
ring in the non-sensing region show resonance valleys at λc1 and ring of SWGMRR, and the spectral line’s resonant wavelength
λc2 wavelengths, where the first resonance wavelength λc1 of frequency shift distance is 1λa after altering the refractive index.
the reference ring coincides with the first resonance wavelength It is known that the FSR of the MRR is related to the radius of
λs1 of the sensing ring, and the second resonance wavelength the micro-ring. Given that FSRc is the FSR of the reference ring
 6210 Vol. 62, No. 23 / 10 August 2023 / Applied Optics Research Article

Table 1. Comparison of Sensing Performance of Various Refractive Index Sensors

Device Sensitivity (nm/RIU) iDL (RIU) Q-Factor Radius (µm)
−5
Grating stacked cavity [25] 296 7.435 × 10 27000 –
Photonic crystal cavity [26] 410 4.878 × 10−5 ∼104 –
MZI-MRR [27] 3552 N/A – –
Circular subwavelength grating micro-ring [28] 270 0.99 × 10−3 3900 30
Trapezoidal subwavelength grating micro-ring 366 5.465 × 10−5 – 5
(Fano line) [20]
Slit waveguide micro-ring [29] 429.7 3.71 × 10−4 9800 10
Runway type micro-ring [30] 412 ± 0.5 3.94 × 10−4 9500 10
Cascaded three micro-rings [31] 5866 – 44340 128;132;138
This paper 8030 5.659 × 10−5 11643.82 5.042

λ 2
and FSRs is the FSR of the sensing ring, FSR = 25Rn g
. Make 3. CONCLUSION
the FSR of the two micro-rings have a small difference, where In summary, we have designed a refractive index sensor with
FSRc > FSRs . The equivalent FSR is the wavelength separation high sensitivity, wide sensing range, and excellent integra-
of the two adjacent single resonant valleys of the highest ER tion. Verification was obtained by simulation, optimization of
in the transmission spectrum after the SWGNMRR cascaded structural parameters during simulation, theoretical analysis
reference ring, denoted as FSRa . When discussing the working of the simulation results, and effective improvement of the
process of SWGNMRR only, the refractive index of the material sensor sensing performance. In the structure, the SWGs and
to be measured is changed by 1n, and the effective refractive the Vernier effect of cascading the micro-rings increase the
index n eff = n eff0 + 1n eff is changed by 1n eff , where n eff0 is the contact area of the analyte field with the optical field, boosting
effective refractive index at the initial time. The resonant wave- sensitivity. A U-shaped nested micro-ring structure is used to
25Rn
length λres = m eff frequency shift distance is 1λs , and the broaden the sensing range. The combination of a SWG grat-
trend of the output spectrum is still consistent with the initial ing with a nested U-shaped micro-ring structure, followed by
solution refractive index n = 1.333. The output spectrum is the addition of a reference ring, is the main innovation of this
observed after the reference ring structure is added to the left paper. The structure is more compact, with the entire sensor
side of the U-shaped nested ring waveguide, and at this point the device’s area being only 35 µm × 25 µm. Comparing the pro-
resonant wavelength is frequency shifted by 1λa : posed structure to current sensor devices, it is found that the
performance of the proposed sensor is greatly enhanced, with
1λs = FSRc − FSRs ,

(1) a FSR of 41.956 nm and sensitivity of 8030 nm/RIU for the
1λa = FSRs + 1λres . silicon-based platform-based refractive index sensor device.
In contrast to slit-waveguide-based designs for sensor devices,
The change in the value of the equivalent refractive index
the structure proposed in this study requires only 108 nm of
n eff is
precision processing. It can be fabricated on the SOI platform
1λs FSRc − FSRs and the fabrication method is compatible with the CMOS
1n eff = n eff = n eff . (2) casting method [32]. This project can be used in the field of
λs1 λs1
environmental monitoring and biosensing with high practical
In this paper, we use Sa to denote the sensitivity and combine value. SWG exhibits considerable advantages in the field of
Eqs. (5) and (6) to obtain the sensitivity: refractive index sensing due to its mode field, loss, dispersion,
dn and other properties. We believe that the construction suggested
1λa λa d neff FSRc d n eff λs 1 in this research will serve as a useful reference for the upcoming
Sa = = = = FSs , (3)
1n ng FSRc − FSRs d n n eff development of refractive index sensor technologies.
Funding. National Natural Science Foundation of China (61965006,
Sa FSRc
F= = . (4) 62075047); Natural Science Foundation of Guangxi Province
Ss FSRc − FSRs (2020GXNSFDA297019); Innovation Project of GUET Graduate Education
(2023YCXS215).
In Eqs. (3) and (4), n eff is the effective refractive index of the
waveguide, n g is the group refractive index, and F is a constant, Disclosures. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
indicating the magnification of the sensitivity. Hence, following Data availability. Data underlying the results presented in this paper are
the SWGNMRR cascaded reference rings, the nested micro- available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
ring structure can, via the Vernier effect, boost the sensitivity
of a single U-shaped nested structure by a factor of F , with
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