Abstract

We demonstrate a damascene process for fabricating amorphous silicon (a-Si), single-mode optical channel waveguides and high-Q racetrack resonators. This process is compatible with thermal budget limitations for a-Si phase stability. It offers improved optical transmission and facilitates hydrogen encapsulation for process integration of a-Si waveguide cores. At $1550\mathrm{nm}$, the average measured transmission loss coefficient is $2.5\pm 0.1\mathrm{dB}∕\mathrm{cm}$ for the TE mode, comparable with high-quality single crystalline silicon counterparts. The racetrack resonators have mid-${10}^4$ to ${10}^5$ quality factors (Q) and extinction ratios as high as $25\mathrm{dB}$.

© 2009 Optical Society of America

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