Dry-etched silicon-on-insulator waveguides with low propagation and fiber-coupling losses

• Published in: Journal of lightwave technology 2005-11, Vol.23 (11), p.3875-3880
• Main Authors: Solehmainen, K., Aalto, T., Dekker, J., Kapulainen, M., Harjanne, M., Kukli, K., Heimala, P., Kolari, K., Leskela, M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Atomic layer deposition (ALD); Circuit properties; Deposition; Dry etching; Electric, optical and optoelectronic circuits; Electronics; Etching; Exact sciences and technology; Inductively coupled plasma; integrated optics; Integrated optics. Optical fibers and wave guides; Microelectronic fabrication (materials and surfaces technology); Noise levels; Optical and optoelectronic circuits; optical device fabrication; Optical fiber losses; Optical losses; Optical propagation; Optical waveguides; Particle beam optics; Plasma applications; Plasma measurements; Propagation losses; Reflection; Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices; Silicon on insulator technology; silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology; Systems, networks and services of telecommunications; Telecommunications; Telecommunications and information theory; Transmission and modulation (techniques and equipments); Wave propagation; Waveguides; Wavelengths
• ISSN: 0733-8724; 1558-2213
• DOI: 10.1109/JLT.2005.857750

Optical rib waveguides with various widths and heights were fabricated on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates. Silicon etching was based on dry etching with inductively coupled plasma (ICP)-type reactive ion etcher. The etching process was developed to ensure low optical losses. Propagation loss of 0.13/spl plusmn/0.02 dB/cm was measured for the fundamental mode at the wavelength of 1550 nm in a curved 114-cm-long waveguide. The reflection losses were suppressed by applying atomic layer deposition (ALD) in the growth of antireflection coatings (ARCs).