Technology Overview

Over the last decade, MULTITEL's know-how in the fields of optics and photonics has considerably grown and now includes technologies such as Optical Fiber Sensors (FOS) - derived from its legacy knowledge in optical telecommunication -, Photonic Integrated Circuits (PIC), and free space optics.

This combination of three technologies at different scales, from nano to macro, which is complementented by the development of fiber based optical sources, allows us to target complex problems, from the development of photonic transducers for structural and biochemical sensing to fully integrated optical instruments.

Thanks to our prototyping activity, the three technologies are seamlessly integrated into user friendly equipment prototypes

Optical Fiber Sensors (OFS)

Our OFS technology is mainly - but not exclusively - based on excimer laser UV imprinting of Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) and Long Period Grating (LPG) on standard or specialty fibers. Our gratings can be used as optical filters or as sensors depending on the application. We both design, fabricate and caracterize our components for research purposes.

Clean room facility at Multitel for the fabrication of Fiber Bragg Gratings (FBGs)

Photonic Integrated Circuits (PIC)

Photonic Integrated Circuits is an ever growing technology as it allows low cost and mass fabrication of a variety of components in a variety of materials, from glass and organic materials to semiconductors and metals. Due to the large capital investment for PIC fabrication, we have followed a 'fabless' model where our designs are materialized at big commercial or research fabs.

We can design from single components such as surface or volume gratings, ring resonators, photonic crystal, splitters, ... to fully integrated chips. We have also developed a strong knowledge in interfacing our photonic chip with fluidic distribution systems and with biochemical functionalisation.

Left: Silicon add drop filter based on ring resonators, in collaboration with University of Gent/IMEC. Right: A silicon-nitride ring resonator in action from FP6-SABIO project.