A method for analyzing the coupling of 3-D tapered rib waveguides with fibers

The fields in 3-dimensional tapered waveguides are unstable compared with the fields in the straight waveguides. In the case of waveguide-to-fiber coupling and fiber-to-waveguide coupling, a sequence of short straight waveguides has been modeled to approximate the 3-dimensional tapered waveguide; and the unstable incident and reflected fields, as well as their derivatives, were determined by the beam propagation method(BPM). Then free space radiation mode(FSRM) was employed to calculate the reflected and transmitted powers. Analysis results of the coupling of fiber with silicon-on-insulator(SOI) tapered rib waveguides showed the feasibility of the method.

Novel folding 8x8 silicon-based optical matrix switch with tapered waveguides and self-aligned corner mirrors

Novel folding 8 x 8 matrix switches based on silicon on insulator were demonstrated. In the design, single-mode rib waveguides and multimode interferences are connected by optimized tapered waveguides to reduce the mode coupling loss between the two types of waveguides. The self-aligned method was applied to the key integrated turning mirrors for perfect positions and low loss of them. A mixed etching process including inductively coupled plasma and chemical etching was employed to etch waveguides and mirrors, respectively. The compact size of the device is only 20 x 3.2 mm(2). The switch element with high switching speed and low power consumption is presented in the matrix. The average insertion loss of the matrix is about -21 dB, and the excess loss of one mirror is measured of -1.4 dB. The worst crosstalk is larger than 21 dB. Experimental results illuminate that some of the main characteristics of optical matrix switches are. developed in the modified design, which is in accord with theoretic analyses.

A high-performance Si-based MOS electrooptic phase modulator with a shunt-capacitor configuration

A novel Si-based metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) electrooptic phase modulator including two shunt oxide layer capacitors integrated on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) waveguide is simulated and analyzed. The refractive index near the two gate oxide layers is modified by the free carrier dispersion effect induced by applying a positive bias on the electrodes. The theoretical calculation of free carrier distribution coupled with optical guided mode propagation characteristics has been carried out. The influence of the structure parameters such as the width and the doping level of the active region are analyzed. A half-wave voltage V-pi = 4 V is demonstrated with an 8-mm active region length and a 4-mu m width of an inner rib under an accumulation mode. When decreasing the inner rib width to 1 mu m, the phase modulation efficiency is even higher, and the rise and fall times reach 50 and 40 ps, respectively, with a 1.0 x 10(17) cm(-3) doping level in the active region.

Fabrication of novel double-hetero-epitaxial SOT structure Si/gamma-Al2O3/Si

In this paper, we report the fabrication of Si-based double-hetero-epitaxial silicon on insulator (SOI) structure Si/gamma-Al2O3/Si. Firstly, single crystalline gamma-Al2O3(100) insulator films were grown epitaxially on Si(100) using the sources of TMA (Al(CH3)(3)) and O-2 by very low-pressure chemical vapor deposition. Afterwards, Si(100) epitaxial films were grown on gamma-Al2O3 (100)/Si(100) epi-substrates using a chemical vapor deposition method similar to the silicon on sapphire epitaxial growth. The Si/gamma-Al2O3/Si SOL materials are characterized in detail by reflect high-energy electron diffraction, X-ray diffraction and Auger energy spectrum (AES) techniques. The insulator layer of gamma-Al2O3 has an excellent dielectric property. The leakage current is less than 1 x 10(-10) A/cm(2) when the electric field is below 1.3 MV/ cm. The Si film grown on gamma-Al2O3/Si epi-substrates was single crystalline. Meanwhile, the AES depth profile of the SOL structure shows that the composition of gamma-Al2O3 film is uniform, and the carbon contamination is not observed. Additionally, the gamma-Al2O3/Si epi-substrates are suitable candidates as a platform for a variety of active layers such as GaN, SiC and GeSi. It shows a bright future for microelectronic and optical electronics applications. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

Fabrication of 4 x 4 tapered MMI coupler with large cross section

MMI coupler with large cross section has low coupling loss between the device and fiber. However, large chip area is required. Recently proposed N x N tapered MMI coupler shows a substantial reduction in device geometry. No such kind of devices with N > 2 has yet been realized up to now. The authors have demonstrated a 4 x 4 parabolically tapered MMI coupler with large cross section that can match the SM fiber in silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology. The device exhibits a minimum uniformity of 0.36 dB and excess loss of 3.7 dB, It represents a key component for realization of MMI-based silicon integrated optical circuit technology.

Si1-xGex/Si resonant-cavity-enhanced photodetectors with a silicon-on-oxide reflector operating near 1.3 mu m

We report on a Si1-xGex/Si multiple quantum-well resonant-cavity-enhanced (RCE) photodetector with a silicon-on-oxide reflector as the bottom mirror operating near 1.3 mu m. The breakdown voltage of the photodetector is above 18 V and the dark current density at 5 V reverse bias is 12 pA/mu m(2). The RCE photodetector shows enhanced responsivity with a clear peak at 1.285 mu m and the peak responsivity is measured around 10.2 mA/W at a reverse bias of 5 V. The external quantum efficiency at 1.3 mu m is measured to be 3.5% under reverse bias of 16 V, which is enhanced three- to fourfold compared with that of a conventional p-i-n photodetector with a Ge content of 0.5 reported in 1995 by Huang [Appl. Phys. Lett. 67, 566 (1995)]. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0003-6951(00)00628-8].

Improvement of thin silicon on sapphire (SOS) film materials and device performances by solid phase epitaxy

The increased emphasis on sub-micron CMOS/SOS devices has placed a demand for high quality thin silicon on sapphire (SOS) films with thickness of the order 100-200 nm. It is demonstrated that the crystalline quality of as-grown thin SOS films by the CVD method can be greatly improved by solid phase epitaxy (SPE) process: implantation of self-silicon ions and subsequent thermal annealing. Subsequent regrowth of this amorphous layer leads to a greater improvement in silicon layer crystallinity and channel carrier mobility, evidenced, respectively, by double crystal X-ray diffraction and electrical measurements. We concluded that the thin SPE SOS films are suitable for application to high-performance CMOS circuitry. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.

Experimental Demonstration on Structure-Parameter Dependence of Photonic Crystal Optical Spectrum

We present fabrication and experimental measurement of a series of photonic crystal waveguides and coupled structure of PC waveguide and PC micro-cavity. The complete devices consist of an injector taper down from 3 mu m into a triangular-lattice air-holes single-line-defect waveguide. We fabricated these devices on a silicon-on-insulator substrate and characterized them using tunable laser source. We've obtained high-efficiency light propagation and broad flat spectrum response of photonic-crystal waveguides. A sharp attenuation at photonic crystal waveguide mode edge was observed for most structures. The edge of guided band is shifted about 31 nm with the 10 nm increase of lattice constant. Mode resonance was observed in coupled structure. Our experimental results indicate that the optical spectra of photonic crystal are very sensitive to structure parameters.

A new method to realize configurable OADM by using Bragg waveguide grating

Our configurable optical add/drop multiplexers (OADM) are based on thermally tunable silicon-on-insulator (SOI) Bragg gratings. We have simulated the whole device and get ideal performance. We also tried experiments to explore the process of grating waveguide and got useful results.

INFLUENCE OF THE 90-DEGREES PARTIAL DISLOCATION CORE STRUCTURE IN SILICON ON ENERGY-LEVELS

An LCAO-scheme taking into account 10 atomic orbitals (s-, p-, and d-type) is used to calculate the electronic structure of the reconstructed 90-degrees partial dislocation in Si. Two different valence force fields producing deviating results are used for modelling the core structure. Geometrical data published by another group is also used. The aim is to explore the influence of geometry on energy levels. We find that the band structure depends sensitively on bond angles. Using data determined by the Tersoff potential we obtain two bands of which the upper one penetrates deeply into the indirect band gap while the geometry minimizing the simple Keating potential leaves the gap completely clear of dislocation states. Thus, from a theoretical point of view, the chief difficulty in calculating the electronic structure of the reconstructed 90-degrees partial is the lack of accurate structural information.

A transmission electron microscopy study of microstructural defects in proton implanted silicon

The microstructure of silicon on defect layer, a new type of silicon-on-insulator material using proton implantation and two-step annealing to obtain a high resistivity buried layer beneath the silicon surface, has been investigated by transmission electron microscopy. Implantation induced a heavily damaged region containing two types of extended defects involving hydrogen: {001} platelets and {111} platelets. During the first step annealing, gas bubbles and {111} precipitates formed. After the second step annealing, {111} precipitates disappeared, while the bubble microstructure still remained and a buried layer consisting of bubbles and dislocations between the bubbles was left. This study shows that the dislocations pinning the bubbles plays an important role in stabilizing the bubbles and in the formation of the defect insulating layer. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.

COMPARISON OF PROPERTIES OF SOLID-PHASE EPITAXIAL SILICON-ON-SAPPHIRE FILMS RECRYSTALLIZED BY RAPID THERMAL ANNEALING AND FURNACE ANNEALING

Chemically vapour deposited silicon on sapphire (SOS) films 0.25 mu m thick were implanted with Si-28(+) and recrystallized in solid phase by furnace annealing (FA) and IR rapid thermal annealing (RTA) in our laboratory. An improvement in crystalline quality can be obtained using both annealing procedures. After FA, it is hard to retain the intrinsic high resistivity value(10(4)-10(5) Ohm cm) observed in as-grown SOS films, so the improvement process cannot be put to practical use effectively. However, it is demonstrated that by properly adjusting the implantation and RTA conditions, significant improvements in both film quality and film autodoping can be accomplished. This work describes a modified double solid phase epitaxy process in which the intrinsic high resistivities of the as grown SOS films are retained. The mechanism of suppression of Al autodoping is discussed.

Fabrication of Silicon Crystal-Facet-Dependent Nanostructures by Electron-Beam Lithography

Silicon crystal-facet-dependent nanostructures have been successfully fabricated on a (100)-oriented silicon-on-insulator wafer using electron-beam lithography and the silicon anisotropic wet etching technique. This technique takes ad-vantage of the large difference in etching properties for different crystallographic planes in alkaline solution. The mini-mum size of the trapezoidal top for those Si nanostructures can be reduced to less than 10nm. Scanning electron microscopy(SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) observations indicate that the etched nanostructures have controllable shapes and smooth surfaces.