Methods for coupling diamond structures to photonic devices

• US 7,427,525 B2
• Filed: 10/13/2006
• Issued: 09/23/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/13/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Fiorentino, Marco, Kamins, Theodore I., Fattal, David, Wu, Wei, Beausoleil, Raymond G., Spillane, Sean, Santori, Charles
• Primary Examiner(s): Le; Thao X.
• Assistant Examiner(s): TRICE, KIMBERLY N
• Application Number:
  US11/580,344
• Publication Number:
  US 20080096308A1
• Time in Patent Office: 711 Days
• Field of Search: 438/31
• US Class Current: 438/31
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/122 Basic optical elements, e.g. light-guiding paths
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 2202/32 Photonic crystals

Abstract

Various embodiments of the present invention are directed to methods for coupling semiconductor-based photonic devices to diamond. In one embodiment of the present invention, a method for coupling a photonic device with a diamond structure comprises embedding the diamond structure in a first substrate, where the first substrate comprises a first transparent material. The photonic device is formed in a semiconductor material, which is supported by a second substrate. An intermediate structure is formed by depositing a second transparent material over the photonic device. The second transparent material may have substantially the same refractive index as the first transparent material. The intermediate structure is then separated from the second substrate, and the intermediated structure is adhered to the first substrate so that the photonic device optically couples with the diamond structure.

Claims

1. A method for coupling a photonic device with a diamond structure, the method comprising:

embedding the diamond structure in a first substrate, the first substrate comprising a first transparent material;

forming the photonic device in a semiconductor material, the semiconductor material supported by a second substrate;

forming an intermediate structure by depositing a second transparent material over the photonic device, the second transparent material having substantially the same refractive index as the first transparent material;

separating the intermediate structure from the second substrate; and

adhering the intermediated structure to the first substrate so that the photonic device optically couples with the diamond structure.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the diamond structure further comprises one or more color centers.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the color center further comprises one of:

a nitrogen-vacancy center;

a nickel center;

a nickel-nitrogen complex center; and

a silicon-vacancy center.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the first and the second transparent materials have lower refractive indexes than both the semiconductor layer.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the first transparent material and the second transparent materials each further comprise one of:

SiN;

SiO₂;

SiC;

acrylate polymers; and

transparent polymers.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the semiconductor material further comprises one of:

AlGaP;

TiO₂;

SiC;

a dielectric;

a II-VI semiconductor;

a III-V semiconductor; and

a Group IV semiconductor.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the photonic device further comprises one of:

a ridge waveguide;

a microring;

a photonic crystal waveguide; and

a photonic crystal resonant cavity.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein embedding the diamond structure further comprises:

forming a hole in the first substrate;

depositing a nucleation center in the hole using nanoimprint lithography; and

depositing carbon layers over the nucleation center using chemical vapor deposition.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the nucleation center further comprises one of:

nickel;

platinum;

or

a diamond crystal seed having a color center.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein forming the photonic device in the semiconductor material further comprises one of:

reactive-ion etching;

focused ion-beam etching;

chemically assisted ion-beam etching;

electron beam lithography;

photolithography; and

nanoimprint lithography.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein depositing the layer of the second transparent material further comprises one of:

chemical vapor deposition;

plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition;

sputtering;

evaporation;

molecular beam epitaxy; and

wafer bonding.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein separating the intermediate layer from the second substrate further comprises one of:

wet chemical etching;

reactive-ion etching;

focused ion-beam etching; and

chemically assisted ion-beam etching.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein adhering the intermediate layer to the first substrate further comprises gluing, suctioning, grasping, or fusing the second transparent material to the first transparent material.