Title :
Study of reactive ion etched (RIE) facets of silicon- on-insulator (SOI) rip waveguides
Author :
Zimmermann, L. ; Schnarrenberger, M. ; Mitze, T. ; Bruns, J. ; Petermann, K.
Author_Institution :
Institut fur Hochfrequenz-und Halbleiter-Systemtechnologien, Technische Univ. Berlin, Germany
Abstract :
In our study we compare the quality of dry etched rip waveguide facets to facets prepared by a conventional polishing technique. Linear SOI waveguide arrays were fabricated on BESOI (bonded and etched-back SOI) material with a silicon top-layer of H = 4 μm. We used standard contact lithography for patterning and a commercial RIE system for waveguide and facet etching. We studied different process flows (facet-first and rip-first), different masking materials and loading effects on the wafer. The surface of the facets was characterized by high resolution scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The additional coupling loss introduced by the process flow and by the etching conditions as well as the impact of the two on uniformity of the waveguide transmission were quantified by means of fiber-to-fiber optical measurements (at 1.55 μm).
Keywords :
masks; optical fabrication; optical losses; optical waveguides; photolithography; polishing; scanning electron microscopy; silicon-on-insulator; sputter etching; 1.55 mum; BESOI; RIE; bonded and etched-back SOI; coupling loss; dry etching; fiber-to-fiber optical measurements; masking materials; polishing; reactive ion etching; scanning electron microscopy; silicon-on-insulator rip waveguide arrays; standard contact lithography; Dry etching; Lithography; Optical coupling; Optical fiber losses; Optical surface waves; Optical waveguides; Propagation losses; Scanning electron microscopy; Silicon; Wafer bonding;
Conference_Titel :
Fibres and Optical Passive Components, 2005. Proceedings of 2005 IEEE/LEOS Workshop on
Print_ISBN :
0-7803-8949-2
DOI :
10.1109/WFOPC.2005.1462136
