Fabrication techniques for low-loss silicon nitride waveguides

Michael J. Shaw; Junpeng Guo; Gregory Allen Vawter; Scott Habermehl; Charles T. Sullivan

doi:10.1117/12.588828

22 January 2005 Fabrication techniques for low-loss silicon nitride waveguides

Michael J. Shaw, Junpeng Guo, Gregory Allen Vawter, Scott Habermehl, Charles T. Sullivan

Proceedings Volume 5720, Micromachining Technology for Micro-Optics and Nano-Optics III; (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.588828
Event: MOEMS-MEMS Micro and Nanofabrication, 2005, San Jose, California, United States

Abstract

Optical waveguide propagation loss due to sidewall roughness, material impurity and inhomogeneity has been the focus of many studies in fabricating planar lightwave circuits (PLC's) In this work, experiments were carried out to identify the best fabrication process for reducing propagation loss in single mode waveguides comprised of silicon nitride core and silicon dioxide cladding material. Sidewall roughness measurements were taken during the fabrication of waveguide devices for various processing conditions. Several fabrication techniques were explored to reduce the sidewall roughness and absorption in the waveguides. Improvements in waveguide quality were established by direct measurement of waveguide propagation loss. The lowest linear waveguide loss measured in these buried channel waveguides was 0.1 dB/cm at a wavelength of 1550 nm. This low propagation loss along with the large refractive index contrast between silicon nitride and silicon dioxide enables high density integration of photonic devices and small PLC's for a variety of applications in photonic sensing and communications.

Citation Download Citation

Michael J. Shaw, Junpeng Guo, Gregory Allen Vawter, Scott Habermehl, and Charles T. Sullivan "Fabrication techniques for low-loss silicon nitride waveguides", Proc. SPIE 5720, Micromachining Technology for Micro-Optics and Nano-Optics III, (22 January 2005); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.588828

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