Seeing blue: pushing integrated photonics into the ultraviolet with ALD aluminum oxide

Gavin N. West

doi:10.1117/12.2545047

25 February 2020 Seeing blue: pushing integrated photonics into the ultraviolet with ALD aluminum oxide

Gavin N. West

Proceedings Volume 11283, Integrated Optics: Devices, Materials, and Technologies XXIV; 112830B (2020) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2545047
Event: SPIE OPTO, 2020, San Francisco, California, United States

Abstract

Following the widespread implementation of silicon photonics technology, the emergence of applications in optogenetics, biosensing, augmented reality, and atomic-molecular-optical physics has highlighted a need for integrated photonic platforms operating at visible and ultraviolet wavelengths. Conventional materials for integrated photonics are not well-suited to the task; silicon's 1.1 eV bandgap thwarts its usefulness for wavelengths shorter than the near infrared, and as wavelengths decrease toward the ultraviolet, silicon nitride likewise begins to falter and strong material absorption takes hold. Meanwhile, aluminum oxide grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD) is a largely unexplored material which exhibits low material loss deep into the ultraviolet. ALD alumina keeps several desirable characteristics of silicon nitride; namely easy deposition on a variety of substrates and processing with commonly-available tooling. Here I discuss recent work developing ALD aluminum oxide for building integrated photonic systems, with an emphasis on fabrication and recent measured results. I review results for waveguides and resonators in the visible-to-ultraviolet regime, using both vertical grating couplers and inverse-taper edge couplers for input/output. Measured ring resonators at λ = 405 nm exhibit intrinsic quality factors exceeding 470,000, and propagation loss is measured from 0.5 dB/cm at λ = 461 nm to < 3 dB/cm at λ = 370 nm.

Citation Download Citation

Gavin N. West "Seeing blue: pushing integrated photonics into the ultraviolet with ALD aluminum oxide", Proc. SPIE 11283, Integrated Optics: Devices, Materials, and Technologies XXIV, 112830B (25 February 2020); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2545047

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KEYWORDS

Waveguides

Atomic layer deposition

Ultraviolet radiation

Silicon

Integrated photonics

Resonators

Etching

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