Mid-Infrared Integrated Photonics for Non-Invasive Biomedical Applications

Pao Tai Lin
¹ Electrical & Computer Engineering Department
² Materials Science and Engineering Department
Texas A&M University
*Corresponding author: paolin@tamu.edu

Mid-Infrared (mid-IR) integrated photonics with machine learning (ML) were developed to detect various breath biomarkers, including the volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The key components like mid-IR spectrometers can be miniaturized by using microring resonator arrays. The resonance lines of the microrings were engineered to precisely align with the VOC mid-IR absorption lines, thus enabling label free molecule detection utilizing the fingerprint and characteristic absorption spectrum. Furthermore, the sensitivity and specificity of mid-IR chips were enhanced by surface functionalization with large-surface nano-porous materials. Our mid-IR sensors combined with ML algorithm can be applied for point-of-care (POC) tests in various environments.