Open AccessSub-1 dB/cm submicrometer-scale amorphous silicon waveguide for backend on-chip optical interconnect
Author(s) -
Ryohei Takei,
Shoko Manako,
Emiko Omoda,
Youichi Sakakibara,
Masahiko Mori,
Toshihiro Kamei
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - Uncategorized
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.22.004779
Subject(s) - materials science , photolithography , fabrication , optoelectronics , waveguide , stepper , optics , silicon , photomask , amorphous silicon , resist , crystalline silicon , nanotechnology , medicine , alternative medicine , physics , pathology , layer (electronics)
We demonstrate a submicrometer-scale hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) waveguide with a record low propagation loss of 0.60 ± 0.02 dB/cm because of the very low infrared optical absorption of our low defect a-Si:H film, the optimized waveguide structure and the fabrication process. The waveguide has a core with a thickness of 440 nm and a width of 780 nm that underlies a 100-nm-thick ridge structure, and is fabricated by low-cost i-line stepper photolithography and with low-temperature processing at less than 350°C, making it compatible with the backend process of complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) fabrication.