Technology Development for Forming Multilayer Structures Si/SiO2/Si3N4 for the Fabrication of Photonics Integrated Circuit (PIC) Components

Abstract

Photonics Integrated Circuits (PICs) are essential components of modern photonic and radio-photonic devices and are widely used to enhance computational technology, communication systems, and radar systems. Currently, Si3N4 is one of the most widely used materials in integrated photonics, due to its ability to form thin-film waveguides with low optical losses and its high compatibility with CMOS technologies used in microelectronics. The goal of this work was to develop the technology for forming multilayer structures that include a functional Si3N4 layer and subsequently fabricating ring microresonators based on these structures.
Within the framework of this work, a technological route was developed to enable the formation of SiO2 and Si3N4 layers on 100 mm diameter Si substrates. The main technological operations of this route include thermal oxidation of Si wafers and chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of Si3N4.
The developed technological approaches allowed for the formation of a series of samples with sequentially deposited SiO2 and Si3N4 layers, having thicknesses of more than 2.7 μm and 0.45 μm, respectively. The selection of these thicknesses was based on numerical simulations performed using Comsol Multiphysics. The optical properties and surface of the fabricated samples were investigated using ellipsometry, optical microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The experimental results demonstrated the feasibility of using the obtained multilayer structures for the fabrication of ring microresonators.
This work was carried out in the laboratory "Materials and Devices of Active Photonics" with financial support from the Russian Science Foundation grant No. 23-91-06308 and the NPC "Technological Center".

Speaker

Pestova B. Victoria
National Research University of Electronic Technology, Zelenograd, Russia
Russia

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