PHOTONIC INTEGRATION PLATFORM
First Claim
1. A silicon-on-insulator (SOI) optical device comprising:
- a semiconductor substrate;
an insulation layer disposed above the substrate, wherein a waveguide is embedded in the insulation layer; and
a crystalline silicon layer above the insulation layer, the silicon layer comprising a silicon waveguide that overlaps the embedded waveguide such that an optical signal transmitted in the embedded waveguide is transferred to the silicon waveguide.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A SOI device may include a waveguide adapter that couples light between an external light source—e.g., a fiber optic cable or laser—and a silicon waveguide on the silicon surface layer of the SOI device. In one embodiment, the waveguide adapter is embedded into the insulator layer. Doing so may enable the waveguide adapter to be formed before the surface layer components are added onto the SOI device. Accordingly, fabrication techniques that use high-temperatures may be used without harming other components in the SOI device—e.g., the waveguide adapter is formed before heat-sensitive components are added to the silicon surface layer.
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Citations
27 Claims
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1. A silicon-on-insulator (SOI) optical device comprising:
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a semiconductor substrate; an insulation layer disposed above the substrate, wherein a waveguide is embedded in the insulation layer; and a crystalline silicon layer above the insulation layer, the silicon layer comprising a silicon waveguide that overlaps the embedded waveguide such that an optical signal transmitted in the embedded waveguide is transferred to the silicon waveguide. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 15)
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8-14. -14. (canceled)
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16. A SOI optical device, comprising:
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a first prong; and a plurality of second prongs, wherein the first prong and second prongs are configured to at least one of receive and transmit optical energy via a coupling surface of an optical device, wherein a dimension of the second prongs reduces as the second prongs extend in a direction away from the coupling surface, wherein a dimension of the first prong increases as the first prong extends away from the coupling surface, wherein a length of the first prong in the direction that extends away from the coupling surface is greater than each of the respective lengths of the second prongs. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A SOI optical device, comprising:
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a semiconductor substrate; an insulation layer disposed on the substrate; a crystalline silicon layer disposed on the insulation layer and comprising a silicon waveguide; and a waveguide adapter, wherein the silicon layer is disposed between the waveguide adapter and the insulation layer, the waveguide adapter comprising; a first prong; and a plurality of second prongs, wherein the first prong and second prongs are configured to at least one of receive and transmit optical energy via a coupling interface of the optical device, wherein the first prong and the second prongs are positioned such that the optical energy transmitted by the first prong and the second prongs is transferred to the silicon waveguide, and wherein the first prong is between at least one of the second prongs and the silicon waveguide. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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Specification