The monolithic integration of CMOS microelectronics with photonics is inevitable and benefits both technologies. Photonic integration to microelectronics provides such solutions as overcoming microprocessor communication roadblocks through the use of optical interconnection. Microelectronic integration can provide benefits to photonic structures by optimizing electronic signals generated by photonic biosensors for example. Photonic integration must complement, build on, and enhance the existing state of CMOS microelectronic technology. Photonic approaches that ignore the realities of CMOS architectures (such as power and thermal limitations), provide little benefit to the CMOS device performance, are incompatible with CMOS silicon manufacturing processes, or are incapable of achieving levels of long term reliability already well demonstrated by microelectronic devices, give little reason for photonic/microelectronic integration. Practical implementation of photonics on chip, monolithically with CMOS type microelectronic devices, remains in the laboratory.
This work presents architectures to integrate photonics and microelectronics that address CMOS fabrication realities, increase performance of both the electronic and optical functions, and retain current levels of reliability. Fabricating these structures with the limited CMOS material set and/or typical photonic materials requires materials to be molecularly engineered to provide required properties. Materials have been investigated that enable economic fabrication of photonic structures for monolithic integration. Low loss self assembled silicon nanocomposite VIPIR waveguide structures are combined with long term stable non-linear poled polymers for fabrication of electro-optic active devices. Materials are fabricated using low temperature plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD).
This report details the development of a self-assembled monosilane nanocomposite that possesses unique applicability to the construction of microphotonic circuits. Through exposure to deep ultraviolet radiation, large changes in as deposited index of refraction can be induced through exposure to deep UV (254 nm or less) radiation. The ability to produce materials with Variable In Plane Index of Refraction (VIPIR) permits microphotonic designs to be constructed that are difficult or impossible to construct by conventional means. A silicon donor vapor was introduced and reacted with an organic donor in a central processing chamber to produce a self-assembled monosilane nanocomposite. The deposited film properties can be altered through reactant and deposition condition selection to achieve optimum photosensitivity. Work to date indicates that the ability to use separate organic donor materials and silicon donor materials allows considerably more flexibility in the stoichiometry of the deposited materials than is possible with single component organosilicon reactions. The monosilane embedded nanocomposite material provides a family of index of refractions, as deposited, and photosensitivities. Deposition conditions and organic components are selected to produce higher or lower as deposited index of refraction, photosensitivity and increase or decrease contrast as deposited vs. after photoexposure.
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