Experimental results from a thermally tuned silicon photonics-based Fourier transform spectrometer (Si-FTS)

A new on-chip Fourier transform spectrometer has been developed for spectrum analysis application. This spectrometer, based on a thermally tuned Mach-Zehnder Interferometer(MZI) with silicon photonics technology, is small size, light weight and low power consumption. Experimental data have acquired in the O-band domain and the processing chain to convert raw data to spectral data is described. These experimental results show that the spectral resolution is close to the one expected, but also that the signal to noise ratio is limited by various factors. We discuss the origin of those limitations and suggest solutions to circumvent them.