Sensing of Aerosol Particles Using SU-8 Polymer Based Microring Resonators

Aerosols are minute particles suspended in the atmosphere. When these particles are sufficiently large, we notice their presence as they scatter and absorb sunlight. Their scattering of sunlight can reduce visibility (haze) and redden sunrises and sunsets. The atmospheric lifetime of 0.1 to 1-micrometer particles is thus very strongly linked to the hydrological cycle. The accumulation mode aerosols are those which penetrate most deeply into the lungs of human beings and causing severe health hazards. As of now, particulate monitoring is a gap in the current technology as it doesn't provide sensitivity, longevity and it has a poor calibration. This is because spectroscopic analysis of aerosol measurements is largely affected by the atmospheric extinctions. Besides III-V on silicon photonic circuits having drawbacks of near-infrared absorption, high material costs, and low fabrication yield. Specifically, this proposal addresses this issue by designing a system which can efficiently senses the aerosol particles in the atmosphere by fabricating self-assembled distributed feedback laser (DFB) which acts as a source, microring resonators made of SU-8 polymers on the silicon substrate used for sensing aerosols along with suspended SU-8 waveguides which are used for information transfer with low propagation losses. The simulations were performed using COMSOL Multiphysics Software.