Improvement of sidewall surface roughness in silicon-on-insulator rib waveguides

Silicon-on-insulator (SOI) rib waveguides with residual sidewall roughness were fabricated through inductive coupled plasma reactive ion etching (ICPRIE) process. The sidewall surface morphology was characterized by scan electron microscope (SEM), and the root mean square (rms) roughness of the sidewall surface was directly measured by atomic force microscope (AFM). Sidewall surface roughness is the dominant scattering loss source. The ripples on the sidewall surface could be eliminated by mixed ICPRIE, and the rms roughness could be low down to 0.3 nm after thermal oxidation and hf rinse. According to the scattering theory developed by Payne and Lacey, the scattering loss could be minimized to below 0.01 dB/cm. The results indicated that the scattering loss would be a sharp fall by the combination with these two techniques.PACS 42.82.Et; 42.81.Dp; 52.80.Yr; 68.37.Ps; 81.65.Ps     

Experimental investigation on submicron rib waveguide microring/racetrack resonators in silicon-on-insulator

In experiment, characteristics of silicon microring/racetrack resonators in submicron rib waveguides have been systematically investigated. It is demonstrated that only a transverse-electric mode is guided for a ratio of slab height to rib height h/H = 0.5. Thus, these microring/racetrack resonators can only function for quasi-transverse-electric mode, while they get rid of transverse-magnetic polarization. Electron beam lithography and inductively coupled plasma etching were employed and improved to reduce sidewall roughness for low propagation loss and high performance resonators. Then, the effects of waveguide dimensions, coupling region design, waveguide roughness, and oxide cladding for the resonators have been considered and analyzed.     

Side-wall roughness in SOI rib waveguides fabricated by inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching

SOI rib waveguides were fabricated with vertical side walls using inductively coupled plasma reactive ion etching. The root-mean-square (rms) roughness of the side-wall surface was directly measured by atomic force microscopy. The rms roughness of the side-wall surface obtained by three-mask lithography is 28.73 nm, much higher than that of the one-mask-lithography SOI rib waveguide. The scattering loss induced from side-wall roughness is evaluated using Tiens theory, and is proportional to the square of the side-wall rms roughness. To reduce the rms roughness, hydrogen annealing was used to smooth the side-wall surface obtained by three-mask lithography. After hydrogen annealing, there is a significant drop in the rms roughness of the side-wall surface. PACS 42.82.Et; 42.81.Dp; 52.80.Yr; 68.37.Ps; 81.65.Ps     

Reduction of scattering loss of silicon slot waveguides by RCA smoothing

Because of stronger optical confinement density, silicon slot waveguides tend to have higher scattering loss than normal ridge waveguides with same sidewall roughness. A wet chemical process is found to be highly effective in reducing the surface roughness and scattering loss. A reduction in scattering loss by 10.2 dB/cm for TE and 8.5 dB/cm for TM polarizations has been achieved.     

Influence of the structure parameters on the gain and noise figure in silicon parametric amplifiers based on SOI Rib waveguides

Gain and Noise figure (NF) characteristics in dual-pump parametric amplifier based on silicon on insulator (SOI) Rib waveguides are numerically investigated in the presence of nonlinear losses. The impact of structure parameters of the silicon optical parametric amplifiers (SOPAs) on the gain and the NF are also analyzed. The results show that both the height and the width of the silicon on insulator (SOI) can affect the gain and the NF of SOPAs. 354 nm bandwidth (3 dB) and 8.135 maximum gain can be achieved by tailoring the structure parameters of the SOI rib waveguides. Moreover, the dispersion and the effective mode area of SOI are also analyzed.     

减少聚合物阵列波导光栅损耗的蒸气回溶技术

阵列波导光栅(AWG)器件是波分复用(WDM)系统的一种关键器件,其中,聚合物阵列波导光栅由于其制备工艺、器件集成等方面的优势而受到人们的日益关注。侧壁散射损耗是聚合物阵列波导光栅损耗的一个主要因素,减少阵列波导光栅波导的侧壁损耗对制备低损耗阵列波导光栅具有重要意义。一种蒸气回溶技术被用来有效地减少硅基聚合物阵列波导光栅的散射损耗,该技术的机理是饱和溶剂分子融入并软化波导侧壁,增加其流动性,从而降低波导侧壁粗糙度。用扫描电镜方法验证了用该技术能获得更光滑的波导侧壁。对直波导和阵列波导光栅样品进行回溶处理,测试后得到直波导的侧壁散射损耗减少2.1 dB/cm,阵列波导光栅中心信道和周边信道的插入损耗分别减少5.5 dB和6.7 dB,串扰减少2.5 dB。     

Optical loss measurements in femtosecond laser written waveguides in glass

The optical loss is an important parameter for waveguides used in integrated optics. We measured the optical loss in waveguides written in silicate glass slides with high repetition-rate (MHz) femtosecond laser pulses. The average transmission loss of straight waveguides is about 0.3 dB/mm at a wavelength of 633 nm and 0.05 dB/mm at a wavelength of 1.55 μm. The loss is not polarization dependent and the waveguides allow a minimum bending radius of 36 mm without additional loss. The average numerical aperture of the waveguides is 0.065 at a wavelength of 633 nm and 0.045 at a wavelength of 1.55 μm. In straight waveguides more than 90% of the transmission loss is due to scattering.     

Geometry Parameter Optimization of Large Cross-Sectional S-Shaped Bent Rib Waveguides for Silicon Based Optical Switches

By using a genetic algorithm, geometry parameters of large cross-sectional S-bend rib waveguides are optimized aiming at the least total loss when the propagation loss is considered. Optimized results axe presented as an example of S-bend rib waveguides based on silicon-on-insulator （SOI） 4 × 4 optical switches. The value of 2 dB/cm is given to the propagation loss according to the experimental results. The simulation results indicate that the total loss drops from 1.0002rib down to 0.4375dB without considering a lateral offset. If the offset is adopted, the total loss reduces from 0.5463dB to 0.2365dB. In addition, the effect of the rib height ratio on the loss is analysed, and the optimal ratio is obtained to be 0.55.     

Scattering at sidewall roughness in photonic crystal slabs

We have simulated the effect of sidewall roughness in photonic-crystallike structures with different vertical refractive-index contrast. We treated the scattering off a sidewall irregularity as a radiating dipole excited by the incident waveguide mode. We show that the loss that is due to this scattering is significantly larger for structures with a low refractive-index contrast (such as GaAs/AlGaAs waveguides) than for structures with a high vertical index contrast (such as silicon-on-insulators and membranes).     

Er-Yb co-doped glass waveguide amplifiers using ion exchange and field-assisted annealing

Er³⁺-Yb³⁺ co-doped waveguide amplifiers fabricated using thermal two-step ion-exchange are demonstrated. K⁺-Na⁺ ion-exchange process was first carried out in pure KNO₃ molten bath, and then field-assisted annealing (FAA) was used to make the buried waveguides. The effective buried depth is estimated to be ∼3.4 μm for the buried FAA waveguides. With the use of cut-back method, the fiber-to-guide coupling loss of ∼4.38 dB, the waveguide loss of ∼2.27 dB/cm, and Er³⁺ absorption loss ∼5.7 dB were measured for a ∼1.24-cm-long waveguide. Peak relative gain of ∼7.0 dB is obtained for a ∼1.24-cm-long waveguide. The potential for the fabrication of compact optical amplifiers operating in the range of 1520-1580 nm is also demonstrated.     

Silicon-based rectangular hollow integrated waveguides

This paper describes the simulation, fabrication and characterization of silicon-based rectangular hollow waveguides. Numerical evaluation of such structures has been done using both modal propagation and ray tracing, low total losses and multimodal behavior, even for small core sizes, are predicted. Since light propagation in rectangular hollow waveguides strongly depends on the Fresnel coefficients at the facets, the technological processes have been optimized to obtain wall angles close to 89° and wall and base average roughness of 57 nm and <5 nm, respectively. Hence, roughness is negligible to the working wavelength (678 nm). Measured waveguides show total losses close to 6.0 dB for 3.0 cm length. The non-lineal response due to mode filtering in hollow waveguides has also been experimentally observed. Finally, loss simulations and measurements are in agreement, especially for the widest waveguides. For thinner structures, the reduction of the depth due to the DRIE process, together with the blundering of the vertices, causes a dramatic attenuation increase. All these effects should be taken into consideration when defining hollow structures.     

SOI波长信号分离器的研制

根据大截面单模脊形波导理论和双模干涉机制，在硅片直接键合、背面抛光减薄的ＳＯＩ材料上，通过氢氧化钾各向异性腐蚀的方法，成功地研制出ＳＯＩ波长信号分离器，在波长为１．３μｍ，其插入损耗为４．８１ｄＢ，串音小于－１８．６ｄＢ。     

Dispersion parameters and nonlinear optical properties of silicon nitride rib waveguides

Silicon nitride rib waveguides are numerically studied by use of a full-vectorial mode solver program based on finite difference method. Dispersion parameters, up to the third-order, are computed for waveguides of heights 0.8 μm, 0.9 μm, and 1 μm. Like silicon-on-insulator waveguides, silicon nitride rib waveguides allow us to tailor dispersion parameters at telecom wavelengths. Deeply-etched silicon nitride rib waveguides of height up to 1.5 μm are investigated for correct geometries to achieve polarization independence. The computations lead to a minimum etch depth which can be written as linear function of the waveguide height. Etch-depth and waveguide height dependencies of the nonlinear refractive index coefficient of the silicon nitride are studied. It is shown that third-order optical nonlinearities in silicon nitride rib waveguides can be enhanced by suitable choices of waveguide parameters.     

Grating couplers for thick SOI rib waveguides

The use of grating couplers in high index contrast waveguides like silicon on insulator (SOI) offers several advantages over other coupling approaches, including better alignment tolerances and allowing for wafer-scale testing. The grating couplers were developed for nanometric SOI waveguides (Si-wires), and recently also for micrometric rib waveguides. In this paper we review our work in fiber-to-chip grating couplers for thick SOI rib waveguides, where a coupling efficiency of ?2.2?dB was demonstrated experimentally. We also discuss the use of grating couplers to improve optical throughput (étendue) of a planar waveguide Fourier-Transform (FT) spectrometer implemented in thick rib waveguides.     

硅基脊型波导器件过渡区损耗及偏振效应

在绝缘层上的硅材料上制作了四种具有不同输入输出结构的星形耦合器并进行了测试,对脊形波导与平板波导相互过渡时过渡区的损耗问题进行了研究和讨论,计算得到在所使用的材料参量下利用锥形结构可以得到1dB左右的最小损耗,这一损耗是由于脊型波导与平板波导间的模式失配造成的。以文献中的实验数据为出发点,分析了脊形波导的偏振问题,并通过对脊型波导器件层厚度、脊高、脊宽进行优化设计,得到了不同偏振模式的有效折射率差仅为10^-5量级的单模脊型波导结构,这样的偏振效应在器件设计中可以忽略。     

Optical channel waveguides with trapezoidal-shaped cross sections in KTiOPO4 crystal fabricated by ion implantation

Optical channel waveguides were fabricated in KTiOPO₄ crystal by He⁺-ion implantation using photoresist masks with wedged-shaped cross sections. Semi-closed barrier walls with reduced refractive indices inside the crystal constructed the enclosed regions to be channel waveguides with trapezoidal-shaped cross sections. The m-line as well as end-fire coupling arrangements were performed to characterize the waveguides with light at wavelength of 632.8 nm. The propagation loss of the channel waveguides was determined to be as low as ∼2 dB/cm after simple post-irradiation thermal annealing treatment in air.     

Fabrication Tolerance Analysis of Bent Single-Mode Rib Waveguides on SOI

The influence of fabrication tolerances on the minimum bending radius of both rectangular and trapezoidal single-mode rib waveguides on silicon on insulator (SOI) is analyzed. In order to reduce the number of simulations, we present a semi-analytical procedure which yields an estimation of the bending radius, and facilitates the interpolation of the obtained data. We conclude that the tolerances of today’s fabrication processes hinders the miniaturization of integrated circuits if single-mode behavior is required. Besides, the sidewall angle tapering in 90° turns of wet etched waveguides is analyzed in a worst case approach.     

Fabrication of ultralow-loss Si/SiO(2) waveguides by roughness reduction

We demonstrate 0.8-dB/cm transmission loss for a single-mode, strip Si/SiO(2) waveguide with submicrometer cross-sectional dimensions. We compare the conventional waveguide-fabrication method with two smoothing technologies that we have developed, oxidation smoothing and anisotropic etching. We observe significant reduction of sidewall roughness with our smoothing technologies, which directly results in reduced scattering losses. The rapid increase in the scattering losses as the waveguide dimension is miniaturized, as seen in conventionally fabricated waveguides, is effectively suppressed in the waveguides made with our smoothing technologies. In the oxidation smoothing case, the loss is reduced from 32 dB/cm for the conventional fabrication method to 0.8 dB/cm for the single-mode waveguide width of 0.5 microm . This is to our knowledge the smallest reported loss for a high-index-difference system such as a Si/SiO(2) strip waveguide.     

Anisotropic defect reduction in non-polar a-plane GaN grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy on maskless patterned templates

Several non-polar a-plane GaN films had been grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) on different designed metal organic chemical deposition (MOCVD) GaN templates, which exhibited various ridge-like sidewall facets surface morphologies. The templates induced a lateral growth at the early stage of the HVPE growth, and resulted in a kind of maskless epitaxy lateral overgrown (ELO) process. It is found that the dislocation reduced differently along [1 0 0 0] and [] directions in these HVPE a-plane GaN layers. In [0 0 0 1] direction, the dislocation reduction resulted from the optimal surface roughness value of the template. In [] direction, the inclined facet might be a main factor for the dislocation reduction in HVPE-GaN films. The maskless ELO process had a significant influence on decreasing the dislocation density.     

Influence of surface effects on the performance of lead-niobium-germanate optical waveguides

Lead-niobium-germanate planar waveguides have been produced by pulsed laser deposition. The composition of the waveguides is found to be relatively weakly dependent on the laser fluence, while their surface morphology is affected dramatically. Smooth surfaces are obtained for a narrow fluence range centered at 2.0 J/cm², while particulates having typical diameters of <0.5 μm or droplets with typical diameters of <10 μm are observed at lower and higher fluences, respectively. The refractive index of the waveguides increases with fluence up to 2.1 at 2.0 J/cm², which is close to the value of the bulk glass, and remains constant at higher fluences. Propagation losses show instead a minimum (≈6.5 dB/cm) at 2.0 J/cm². The characteristics of the ablation process that leads to the ejection of solid particulates or molten droplets as well as the increase of the waveguides density on increasing the fluence are discussed to be responsible for the observed optical behavior.