Artificial Intelligence-Enhanced Waveguide "Photonic Nose"- Augmented Sensing Platform for VOC Gases in Mid-Infrared

Small. 2024 Apr 4:e2400035. doi: 10.1002/smll.202400035. Online ahead of print.

Abstract

On-chip nanophotonic waveguide sensor is a promising solution for miniaturization and label-free detection of gas mixtures utilizing the absorption fingerprints in the mid-infrared (MIR) region. However, the quantitative detection and analysis of organic gas mixtures is still challenging and less reported due to the overlapping of the absorption spectrum. Here,an Artificial-Intelligence (AI) assisted waveguide "Photonic nose" is presented as an augmented sensing platform for gas mixture analysis in MIR. With the subwavelength grating cladding supported waveguide design and the help of machine learning algorithms, the MIR absorption spectrum of the binary organic gas mixture is distinguished from arbitrary mixing ratio and decomposed to the single-component spectra for concentration prediction. As a result, the classification of 93.57% for 19 mixing ratios is realized. In addition, the gas mixture spectrum decomposition and concentration prediction show an average root-mean-square error of 2.44 vol%. The work proves the potential for broader sensing and analytical capabilities of the MIR waveguide platform for multiple organic gas components toward MIR on-chip spectroscopy.

Keywords: artificial intelligence; mid‐infrared absorption spectroscopy; mixture analysis; silicon photonics; waveguide sensors.