Hybrid Integrated Optical Transceiver for Interferometric Fiber-Optic Sensors

To meet the integration requirements of interferometric fiber-optic sensors, a kind of optical transceiver based on the hybrid integration method was proposed. A passive optic chip was used to replace the traditional optical fiber coupler, and was coupled with active chips (one laser diode chip and two detector chips) on a unified platform using spatial micro-optical structures. While compact integration structure has been achieved, the entire optical path was integrally thermally controlled, indicating high environmental adaptability. A set of hybrid integrated optical transceivers (HI-OTRs) was developed and tested. An output split ratio deviation of <5%, a response current difference of <10%, an output power drift of <0.1 mW at normal temperature and <3% at 0°C-60°C, and a center wavelength drift of <0.43ppm at 0°C-60°C was achieved. Finally, with the HI-OTR, an interferometric fiber-optic microphone with sensitivity 630mV/Pa (12.6 times of the sensitivity of a standard microphone) was realized, showing attractive potential.