SWIFTS: a groundbreaking integrated technology for high-performance spectroscopy and optical sensors

SWIFTS, or Stationary-Wave Integrated Fourier Transform Spectrometer, is a new, highly integrated high-resolution spectroscopy technology that represents a major advance in the field. This is the first public presentation on the state-of-the-art SWIFTS system. SWIFTS combines groundbreaking nanotechnology research, integrated optics, microelectronics and embedded software, resulting in high-resolution spectrometer technology bundled into a single device that is over 100 times more powerful in terms of spectral resolution than existing mini-spectrometers and more than 2,000 times smaller than high-end spectrometers offering a similar level of performance. Systems based on this technology can typically achieve a spectral resolution of a few pm / 0.2 cm(-1) / 6 GHz, with a good SNR over a bandwidth ranging from several nm to a few hundred nm on a chip measuring a few mm(2), opening the way for product development based on the most demanding applications currently performed in research laboratories. The principle behind this patented technology will be explained, as will the technological choices made by Resolution Spectra Systems. We will present the most challenging building blocks of the technology: nano-pattern deposition, hybrid-chip assembly, light collection, calibration and data processing. In order to cater for different applications, the SWIFTS principle can be implemented in numerous configurations: multiple bands, multiplexing, spectro-imaging, integrated bio-sensors, etc. Various results have been obtained with either research setups or new products in the Visible and Near-Infrared, including analysis of tunable, multi-mode and high-stability lasers, Bragg sensor interrogator and high-depth Optical Coherent Tomography.