Thermooptic interferometric switches fabricated by electron beam irradiation of silica-on-silicon

Author

Syahriar, Ary ; Syms, Richard R A ; Tate, Thomas J.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng., Imperial Coll. of Sci., Technol. & Med., London, UK

Volume

16

Issue

5

fYear

1998

fDate

5/1/1998 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

841

Lastpage

846

Abstract

The thermal stability of channel optical waveguide devices fabricated by electron beam irradiation of plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) silica-on-silicon is investigated. The degree of stability is dependent on the starting material and on the use of thermal annealing prior to irradiation. High-temperature postprocessing is shown to reduce modal confinement, increasing losses in waveguide bends and the coupling coefficient in directional couplers. A low-temperature cladding process based on a thick MgF₂ layer is described, and low-loss thermooptic Mach-Zehnder interferometric switches are demonstrated

Keywords

Mach-Zehnder interferometers; electron beam deposition; integrated optics; integrated optoelectronics; optical directional couplers; optical fabrication; optical switches; plasma CVD; silicon compounds; silicon-on-insulator; thermal stability; thermo-optical effects; CVD; MgF₂; SiO₂-Si; channel optical waveguide devices; coupling coefficient; electron beam irradiation; high-temperature postprocessing; low-loss thermooptic Mach-Zehnder interferometric switches; low-temperature cladding process; modal confinement; optical directional couplers; plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition; silica-on-silicon; starting material; thermal annealing; thermal stability; thermooptic interferometric switch fabrication; thick MgF₂ layer; waveguide bend losses; Electron beams; Electron optics; Optical devices; Optical interferometry; Optical switches; Optical waveguides; Plasma chemistry; Plasma confinement; Plasma stability; Thermal stability;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Lightwave Technology, Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0733-8724

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/50.669015

Filename

669015