Patents
US 11275031 B2: Porous waveguide sensors featuring high confinement factors and method for making the same
- Granted
- 2022-03-15
- Filed
- 2019-09-05 application 16561093
- Type
- Utility · 15 claims
- Elsewhere
- Google Patents ↗ · USPTO patent document ↗ · USPTO Patent Center record ↗
Abstract
Devices and methods of providing a high-performance optical sensor disclose a sensor comprised of a porous material designed to have a multilayer rib-type or multilayer pillar-type waveguide geometry. The resulting porous nanomaterial multilayer-rib or multilayer-pillar waveguide design is optically capable of achieving ˜100% confinement factor while maintaining small mode area and single-mode character. Fabrication of the device is enabled by an inverse processing technique, wherein silicon wafers are first patterned and etched through well-established techniques, which allows porous nanomaterial synthesis (i.e., porous silicon anodization) either at the wafer-scale or at the chip-scale after wafer dicing. While ˜100% is an optimal target, typical devices per presently disclosed subject matter may operate with ˜98-99+%, while allowing for some design adjustments to be made if necessary, and still maintaining high sensitivity. i.e., >85-90% confinement suitable in some applications. In those instances, a primary benefit would still be use of the presently disclosed fabrication technology.
Source: PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 (ipg220315.xml).
Assignees
| Assignee | Type | Place | Also on furp.org | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clemson University 122 patents | US company or organization | Clemson, SC | Clemson University State business registration EXACT high confidence: identical full name and state Clemson University College or university EXACT high confidence: identical full name and state | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
Inventors
| Inventor | Place | Patents | Person page | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Judson D. Ryckman | Clemson, SC | 12 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 | |
| Gabriel Allen | Clemson, SC | 1 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 | |
| William Delaney | Clemson, SC | 1 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 | |
| Tahmid Talukdar | Clemson, SC | 1 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
CPC categories
| Subclass | Category | First group | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| G01N | Investigating or analysing materials by determining their chemical or physical properties | G01N21/7703 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
| G02B | Optical elements, systems or apparatus | G02B6/1225 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
| B82Y | Specific uses or applications of nanostructures; measurement or analysis of nanostructures; manufacture or treatment of nanostructures | B82Y20/00 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
Cooperative Patent Classification, as currently assigned (one row per subclass).
Assignments and security interests
| Recorded | What | From | To | Reel/frame | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-12-16 | Assignment Assignment of assignor's interest | DELANEY, WILLIAM FREDERICK signed 2019-10-21 TALUKDAR, TAHMID signed 2019-11-08 RYCKMAN, JUDSON signed 2019-12-06 ALLEN, GABRIEL signed 2019-12-12 | CLEMSON UNIVERSITY CLEMSON, SC | 51290/170 | ECORSEXC, file of 2026-09-25 |
| 2019-10-01 | Government interest Confirmatory license | CLEMSON UNIVERSITY signed 2019-09-11 | NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION ALEXANDRIA, VA | 50592/731 | ECORSEXC, file of 2026-09-25 |
Documents recorded with the USPTO Assignment Recordation Branch that list this patent. A security interest is a lender’s claim on the patent as collateral; a release ends it.
USPTO bulk data: PatentsView granted patents, disambiguated (PVGPATDIS) for patents, assignees, inventors, places and CPC categories; the USPTO Patent Assignment Dataset (ECORSEXC) for assignments and security interests. Patents filed in the last 20 years. No claims or full text. Links to other records are by name (and state): EXACT means the identical full name and state; FUZZY means a looser name match, with the confidence shown.