Fabrication and characteristics of three-dimensionally buried porous silicon optical waveguides

A fabrication technology of three-dimensionally buried porous silicon (PS) optical waveguide with an extremely high refractive index contrast is presented, including its fundamental properties. The origins of attenuation losses are investigated by experimental and theoretical analyses in terms of microscopic observations, edge emission measurements, polarization mode determination of guided wave, and evaluation of bending loss. The results of these studies indicate that attenuation losses in PS waveguides are due to self-absorption by residual silicon, structural and optical inhomogeneities in the core region, and roughness at interfaces between the core and the cladding layers. Some possible ways for reducing these attenuation losses are discussed. It is also demonstrated that a buried bent PS waveguide with an extremely small curvature of 250 μm can be fabricated by simple planar processing, and that a visible optical wave propagates along it owing to a significantly high refractive index contrast betwe...

[1]  S. Nagata,et al.  Single-mode optical waveguide fabricated by oxidization of selectively doped titanium porous silicon , 1998 .

[2]  Trevor M. Benson,et al.  Porous silicon multilayer optical waveguides , 1996 .

[3]  Light-emissive nonvolatile memory effects in porous silicon diodes , 1999 .

[4]  M. Fujiwara,et al.  Integrated optical switch matrix for single-mode fiber networks , 1982 .

[5]  Ramu V. Ramaswamy,et al.  Fiber-compatible K/sup +/-Na/sup +/ ion-exchanged channel waveguides: fabrication and characterization , 1989 .

[6]  Nobuyoshi Koshida,et al.  Visible electroluminescence from porous silicon , 1992 .

[7]  Nobuyoshi Koshida,et al.  Fabrication and fundamental properties of an edge‐emitting device with step‐index porous silicon waveguide , 1996 .

[8]  Photoelectronic properties of porous silicon , 1994 .

[9]  E. Marcatili.  Bends in optical dielectric guides , 1969 .

[10]  Nobuyoshi Koshida,et al.  Oxide‐free blue photoluminescence from photochemically etched porous silicon , 1996 .

[11]  Nobuyoshi Koshida,et al.  Enhancement of the quantum efficiency and stability of electroluminescence from porous silicon by anodic passivation , 1998 .

[12]  Performances Of Porous Silicon Optical Waveguides , 1997 .

[13]  Nonlinear Electrical Functions of Porous Silicon Light-Emitting Diodes , 1996 .

[14]  Lionel C. Kimerling.  Silicon for photonics , 1997, Photonics West.

[15]  L. Canham.  Silicon quantum wire array fabrication by electrochemical and chemical dissolution of wafers , 1990 .

[16]  A. Hospodková,et al.  Optical non-linearity and hysteresis in porous silicon , 1996 .

[17]  J. Shappir,et al.  Photoluminescence anisotropy from laterally anodized porous silicon , 1998 .

[18]  Nobuyoshi Koshida,et al.  Precisely tuned emission from porous silicon vertical optical cavity in the visible region , 1996 .

[19]  Takahiro Matsumoto,et al.  Optically induced absorption in porous silicon and its application to logic gates , 1995 .

[20]  Albert Polman,et al.  Erbium-doped phosphate glass waveguide on silicon with 4.1 dB/cm gain at 1.535 µm , 1997 .

[21]  Self-aligned porous silicon optical waveguides , 1997 .

[22]  R. S. Nelson,et al.  Ion implantation , 1973 .

[23]  E. A. J. Marcatili,et al.  Dielectric rectangular waveguide and directional coupler for integrated optics , 1969 .

[24]  F. Koch,et al.  POROUS SI ANISOTROPY FROM PHOTOLUMINESCENCE POLARIZATION , 1995 .