Methods of forming polycrystalline semiconductor waveguides for optoelectronic integrated circuits, and devices formed thereby
First Claim
1. A method of forming a semiconductor waveguide, comprising the steps of:
- forming a first cladding layer on a face of a substrate;
forming a polycrystalline semiconductor layer on the first cladding layer;
polishing the polycrystalline semiconductor layer at a face thereof extending opposite the first cladding layer;
forming a second cladding layer on the polished face of the polycrystalline semiconductor layer; and
coupling a source of optical energy to an interior of the polycrystalline semiconductor layer to propagate a signal having a first wavelength therein.
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Abstract
Methods of forming polycrystalline semiconductor waveguides include the steps of forming a first cladding layer (e.g., SiO2) on a substrate (e.g., silicon) and then forming a polycrystalline semiconductor layer (e.g., poly-Si) on the first cladding layer using a direct deposition technique or by annealing amorphous silicon (a-Si) to form a polycrystalline layer, for example. The deposited polycrystalline semiconductor layer can then be polished at a face thereof to have a root-mean-square (RMS) surface roughness of less than about 6 nm so that waveguides patterned therefrom have loss ratings of better than 35 dB/cm. The polished polycrystalline semiconductor layer is then preferably etched in a plasma to form a plurality of polycrystalline strips. A second cladding layer is then formed on the polycrystalline strips to form a plurality of polycrystalline waveguides which provide relatively low-loss paths for optical communication between one or more optoelectronic devices coupled thereto. The annealed amorphous silicon layer or deposited polycrystalline layer can also be hydrogenated by exposing the second cladding layer to a hydrogen containing plasma at a temperature and pressure of about 350° C. and 0.16 mTorr, respectively, and for a duration in a range between about 30 and 60 minutes. This further improves the loss ratings of the waveguides to about 15 dB/cm or less.
227 Citations
26 Claims
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1. A method of forming a semiconductor waveguide, comprising the steps of:
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forming a first cladding layer on a face of a substrate; forming a polycrystalline semiconductor layer on the first cladding layer; polishing the polycrystalline semiconductor layer at a face thereof extending opposite the first cladding layer; forming a second cladding layer on the polished face of the polycrystalline semiconductor layer; and coupling a source of optical energy to an interior of the polycrystalline semiconductor layer to propagate a signal having a first wavelength therein. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of forming a semiconductor waveguide, comprising the steps of:
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forming a first cladding layer on a face of a substrate; forming an amorphous semiconductor layer on the first cladding layer; annealing the amorphous semiconductor layer to convert the amorphous semiconductor layer to a polycrystalline semiconductor layer; forming a second cladding layer on the polycrystalline semiconductor layer; and coupling a source of optical energy to an interior of the polycrystalline semiconductor layer to propagate a signal having a first wavelength therein. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21)
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22. A method of forming an optoelectronic integrated circuit, comprising the steps of:
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forming a layer of polycrystalline silicon on a semiconductor substrate; polishing a surface of the polycrystalline silicon layer to have a root-mean-square surface roughness of less than about 6 nm; patterning the polycrystalline silicon layer into a plurality of polycrystalline interconnect waveguides; and forming a plurality of optoelectronic devices optically coupled to interiors of respective polycrystalline interconnect waveguides. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24, 25, 26)
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Specification