Waveguide Fabrication
Class: Integrated Photonic Devices
Time: Fri. 8:00am ~ 11:00am.
Classroom: 資電206
Lecturer: Prof. 李明昌(Ming-Chang Lee)
Types of Optical Waveguide
Principle of confinement
• Index-confined
Diffused Waveguide
• Profile-confined
• Combined
Materials
• Silicon
Channel Waveguide
• Silicon Dioxide
• LiNaO, LiTaO
• III-V (GaAs, …)
• Polymer
Rib Waveguide
1
Typical Process of Etched Waveguide
• Thin Film Deposition
– Sputtering
– Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD)
– Thermal Oxidation (SiO2)
• Photolithography
• Etching Process
The waveguide dimension is usually controlled by thin
film thickness and photolithography pattern.
Sputtering
e- Diffusion
E Plasma
Ar+
2
Physics of Sputtering
Energies of Bombarding Ions
< 5 eV: Ions are reflected or adsorbed
5 – 10 eV: Ions cause surface damage
10 eV - 10 keV: Ions cause sputtering
> 10 keV: Ions primarily undergo implantation
Sputter Yield:
The number of
sputtered atoms
per impinging ion
saturated
Sputtering Angle Effect
Atom’s sliding
φ csc φ
d
d csc φ
d: penetrating depth
• Sputter yield increase as sputtering angle
• As sputtering angle approximate 90°, the sputtering yield
reduces due to incident atom’s sliding
3
Chemical Vapor Deposition
M. Mardou, “Fundamentals of Microfabrication”
Types of CVD:
• LPCVD
• APCVD
• PECVD
The reaction rate depends on
the slowest process
• Reaction Limited Process
• Mass-Transfer Limited Process
CVD Deposition Rate
R = K s ⋅ N surface
− Ea
K s = K 0 exp( )
kT
Ks E 1
log( )=− a ( )
K0 k T
• A ~ Mass-Transfer Limited Process
• B ~ Reaction Limited Process
4
Incident Angle
• Film is thicker in convex corners Reflow
• Film is thinner in concave corners
Gap Dependency
Large Gap
Pinch-off
Small Gap
Wolf and Tauber
• Mass-Transfer Limited Process --- Fast, but not conformal
• Reaction Limited Process --- Conformal, but slow
5
Poly Crystalline
Poly-silicon
Mardou
• Grain size depends on deposition temperature
– Hotter deposition leads to larger grain structure
Thermal Oxidation
Si + 2H2O Æ SiO2 + H2 (wet)
Si + O2 Æ SiO2 (dry)
• Thermal oxidation consume silicon
• Wet oxidation has faster reaction
rate. However, dry oxidation has
M. Mardou, “Fundamentals of Microfabrication” better thin film quality
6
2D Profile Transformation
Bird Bead
Symmetrical Expansion Asymmetrical Expansion
Photolithography and Etch
• The exposed area is
developed --- positive resist.
• The unexposed area is
developed --- negative resist.
• The patterned photoresist
protect the area from etching
7
Spin Coating of Photoresist
• The thickness is controlled by
material viscosity and spin
speed.
Types of Etching Process
M. Mardou, “Fundamentals of Microfabrication”
(Photoresist or other thin film)
• Anisotropic:
– Best for making small gaps and vertical sidewalls
– Typically more costly
• Isotropic:
– Best to use with large geometries, when sidewall slope dons not
matter, and to undercut the mask
– Quick, easy, cheap
8
Mechanics of the Etching Process
• Slow process step dominate!
Examples of Etched Waveguides
Waveguide
Splitter
Cross Connect
AWG
Baba, 2002
9
• Carrier-Concentration-Reduction
Waveguides
Proton Bombardment
Refractive Index Free Carrier Density
Proton
GaAs or GaP
depth
∆n
• Proton bombardment decreases the free carrier density due to
the lattice defects (carrier traps).
• The free carrier density affect the refractive index.
• The index contrast is not proportional to the density contrast.
10
Free-Carrier-Dependent Refractive Index
ε Ne 2
Recall ∆ = 2n∆n = − (Discussed in free-carrier absorption loss)
ε0 ε 0 m*ω 2
Ne 2
n = n0 −
2nε 0 m * ω 2
For two layers with different free carrier densities, the index contrast ∆n:
n0 , Air
( N 2 − N1 )e2 n1 , N1
∆n = n1 − n2 =
2n1ε 0 m*ω 2
n2 , N 2
• The index contrast is frequency-dependent. Higher frequency
has lower index contrast.
Cut-off Conditions for Free-Carrier Controlled
Waveguides
2V 1 n 2 −n 2
Recall M TE = − tan −1 22 0
π π n1 − n2 2 n0 , Air
int
tg n1 , N1
λ2
For M = 0 ∆n = (n1 − n2 ) ≥ n2 , N 2
32t g 2 n1
( N 2 − N1 )e 2 λ2
≥
2n1ε 0 m ω
* 2
32t g 2 n1
ε 0 m*λ 2ω 2 ε 0 m*π 2 c 2
( N 2 − N1 ) ≥ 2 2
( N 2 − N1 ) ≥
16t g e 4t g 2 e 2
• The cut-off condition is independent of wavelength
(frequency).
11
Ion Exchange and Migration
(Molten)
+
Ion Implantation
T
(1) Ion source I
Q=∫ dt
(2) Mass spectrometer 0
n⋅q⋅ A
(3) High-voltage accelerator Q : dorse( per unit area)
(4) X- and y-axis deflection system I : total current
(5) Target chamber
T :time
A: area
12
Ion Implantation
• Electrostatically accelerate ions to velocities and
energies that can deposit or implant dopants below
the surface
– Process performed at low temperature
– Instant-on and instant-off control
– Precise control of implanting current and charge allow for
better control of the implanted dose
– Increase implant energies can penetrate thin films of
materials
– The peak of implanted dopant profiles are always below the
surface (buried)
Implant Dopant Distribution (Planar Implantation)
T ∞
I
Q=∫ dt = A ⋅ ∫ N ( x)dx Q = 2π ⋅ N p ⋅ ∆RP
0
n⋅q⋅ A 0
If profile is fully below surface
13
Implantation Parameter vs. Implantation Energy
Wolf and Tauber
• Typical Implantation Energy ~ 10 to 200 keV
• Typical Depth of Implant ~ 0.05 µm to 1 µm
3D Implantation (Point Source)
• Gaussian distribution (lateral and vertical)
– Vertical spread determined by the straggle ∆R p
– Lateral spread determined by the lateral straggle ∆R p ⊥
2 2
x − Rp y
N implant ( x, y ) = N p exp[− ] ⋅ exp[− ]
∆R p 2 ∆R p ⊥ 2
14
3D Implantation (Plane Source)
-a +a
2 2
x − Rp + a y − y'
∆R p 2 −∫a
N implant ( x, y ) ∼ N p exp[− ] ⋅ exp[− ]dy '
∆R p ⊥ 2
2
x − Rp y−a y + a
= N p exp[− ] ⋅ erfc − erfc
∆R p 2 ∆R p ⊥ 2 ∆R p ⊥ 2
Complementary error function
3D Sculpture by Ion Implantation
O2- O2- O2- Waveguide Microdisk
Silicon
Oxide
Microdisk
Waveguide
15
• Epitaxial Growth Waveguides
Issues of Monolithic Integrated Photonic
Device
Absorption (Detector) Emission (Emitter)
Conduction Band Conduction Band
Ec Ec
ν : optical frequency ν : optical frequency
Eg = hν Eg = hν
Ev Ev
Valence Band Valence Band
• If the material can emit light, it can also absorb light.
• Can we have different band-gap energy in the same substrate?
Eg (waveguide) > Eg (emitter) > Eg (detector)
16
Ga(1-x)AlxAs Waveguide
• Controlling the Al
concentration can engineer
the band-gap energy.
Eg ( x) = 1.439 + 1.042 x + 0.468 x 2
Interband Absorption
Refractive Index Engineering of Ga(1-x)AlxAs
Sellmeier Equation
B
n( x) = A( x) + − D ( x )λ 2
λ 2 − C ( x)
A( x) = 10.906 − 2.92 x
B = 0.97501
(0.52886 − 0.735 x) 2 if x ≤ 0.36
C ( x) =
(0.30386 − 0.105 x) if x ≥ 0.36
2
D( x) = 0.002467 − (1.41x + 1)
n0 , Air
tg n1 , Ga(1− x ) Alx As
n2 , Ga(1− y ) Al y As
17
Cut-Off Condition for Ga(1-x)AlxAs
Index Contrast Cut-off Condition
tg
∆n = n1 - n2
n0 , Air
n1 , Ga(1− x ) Alx As
n2 , Ga(1− y ) Al y As
0.8
• The cut-off condition is dependent on the Fundamental
ratio of wavelength (frequency) and Mode
thickness.
Lattice strain
• Lattice constant mismatch results in lattice strain.
• Lattice strain can make the fabrication difficult
(delaminating) and induce non-radiative
recombination.
18
Fabrication
• Liquid Phase Epitaxy
• Vapor Phase Epitaxy
• Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) and MOCVD
• Advantage
– Reduce the
impurity
– Well-controlled
doping
– Well-controlled
thickness
• Disadvantage
– Toxic
A schematic of an MBE growth system
Vertical-Cavity Semiconductor Lasers
19
Other III-V Semiconductor
Visible Light
Ga(1− x ) Al x As
Infrared Light
In(1− x )Gax As(1− y ) Py
X = 0.46(1 − y )
• In addition to band-gap energy, the lattice constant have to be
considered.
Measured Band gaps and lattice matching
X = 0.46(1 − y )
1. Determine the wavelength (band gap)
2. Determine the concentration of phosphorous Y
3. Determine the concentration of Ga (lattice match)
20
• Polymer Waveguide
Key Properties of Optical Polymers
21
Polymer Waveguide Devices
Conventional Polymer Process (Photobleaching)
UV
Metal (Al)
• Some polymer is similar to negative photoresist which is easy to be fabricated
Thickness vs. Dilution (Spin Coating)
22
Process of Polymide
Polymides are polymers with excellent thermal stability,
solvent resistance and electrical properties.
Require Etching Process
• Optical Fiber Waveguide Device
23
Fiber Bragg Grating Fabrication
Period
Bragg Grating
Fiber
24
