Design and implementation of silicon-based optical nanostructures for integrated photonic circuit applications using Deep Reactive Ion Etching (DRIE) technique

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Photonic crystals (PhC) are artificially engineered periodic structures capable of manipulating and shaping optical signals. Nanoscale photonic crystals is expected to add new functionalities to the next generation of optical integrated circuits by providing novel ways of losslessly routing and modulating light, thereby enhancing the performance of microdevices. Among semiconductor materials, silicon has been explored as a material for PhC applications due to the existing technical knowledge in fabricating silicon nanostructures as well as being the core material for Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) Electronics. Even though several approaches have been developed to fabricate silicon PhC devices, the Deep Reactive Ion Etching (DRIE) method for the fabrication of silicon nanophotonic structures have been relatively unexplored. In this paper, we present our recent results on the fabrication of silicon nanostructures by DRIE technique, and then demonstrate various nanoscale optical devices on a Silicon on Insulator (SOI) substrate.

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Journal: TechConnect Briefs
Volume: 3, Nanotechnology 2008: Microsystems, Photonics, Sensors, Fluidics, Modeling, and Simulation – Technical Proceedings of the 2008 NSTI Nanotechnology Conference and Trade Show, Volume 3
Published: June 1, 2008
Pages: 54 - 57
Industry sectors: Advanced Materials & Manufacturing | Sensors, MEMS, Electronics
Topic: Photonic Materials & Devices
ISBN: 978-1-4200-8505-1