Freestanding, micromachined, multimode silicon optical waveguides at λ = 1.3 μm for microelectromechanical systems technology

Abstract

Freestanding, multimode optical channel waveguides formed by micromachining silicon are demonstrated. Fabrication utilizes standard microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology. Losses in the 0.57–0.80-dB/cm range are measured for channel waveguides with an air–silicon–air structure, whereas losses in the 1.12–1.52-dB/cm range are measured for channel waveguides with a SiO₂–silicon–SiO₂ structure. Freestanding channel waveguides, along with optical fibers and other MEMS structures, can readily be mounted on a silicon MEMS platform to provide optimal alignment for maximizing optical coupling, and they are thus expected to be useful in devices that involve light and MEMS structures.

© 1998 Optical Society of America

Long-wave infrared 1 × 2 MMI based on air-gap beneath silicon rib waveguides

Yuxin Wei, Guoyi Li, Yinlei Hao, Yubo Li, Jianyi Yang, Minghua Wang, and Xiaoqing Jiang
Opt. Express 19(17) 15803-15809 (2011)

Freestanding optical fibers fabricated in a glass chip using femtosecond laser micromachining for lab-on-a-chip application

Ya Cheng, Koji Sugioka, and Katsumi Midorikawa
Opt. Express 13(18) 7225-7232 (2005)

Sub-micron silicon nitride waveguide fabrication using conventional optical lithography

Yuewang Huang, Qiancheng Zhao, Lobna Kamyab, Ali Rostami, Filippo Capolino, and Ozdal Boyraz
Opt. Express 23(5) 6780-6786 (2015)

Ultralow-loss polycrystalline silicon waveguides and high uniformity 1x12 MMI fanout for 3D photonic integration

David Kwong, John Covey, Amir Hosseini, Yang Zhang, Xiaochuan Xu, and Ray T. Chen
Opt. Express 20(19) 21722-21728 (2012)

Double V-groove ridge waveguides on a silicon substrate

Sanjay Goel, John C. Pincenti, and David L. Naylor
Appl. Opt. 32(3) 318-321 (1993)