Design of a refractive index sensor based on surface soliton waveguides

The design of an innovative integrated sensor based on superficial soliton waveguides is presented. This configuration is called a RISSOR: refractive-index surface-soliton sensor. The hybrid structure combines traditional rib waveguides with a superficial one realized by a superficial photorefractive soliton. Simulations are performed using a BPM numerical code. The sensitivity of the proposed device is based on the solitonic evanescent wave as well as the coupling between the rib and solitonic waveguides.