Photobleachable Host-Guest Thin Films for Optical Waveguides

光集成电路将成为未来高速光纤通信的核心。这些电路需要薄膜光学元件，如波导、耦合器和多路复用器。然而，目前还没有简单、快速、通用、可靠和廉价的薄膜组件制造技术。最基本的光学元件是薄膜无源波导，在薄膜中形成不同折射率的通道，用来传导光波。一种制造波导的简单、低成本的技术将对混合光学集成电路具有广泛的适用性，因为其他光学组件可以用相同的技术产生。在第一阶段中，我们演示了一种新的波导制作方法。我们将使用通过掺入可漂白有机染料而光敏化的SiNx、Si0x和SiCx薄膜。这些薄膜将被遮盖并暴露在辐射下；由此产生的波导结构将进行测试和评估。嵌入染料的漂白已被用于对聚合物薄膜进行图案化。我们工艺中的创新元素是使用了坚硬的“玻璃”主宾膜，这种膜由Jet Vapor Deparation制成。JVD允许在室温下在现有的硅基微电子电路上沉积掺杂染料的玻璃薄膜。与Sol-Gel、CVD和高真空溅射方法相比，JVD方法在速度、灵活性和成本方面也具有优势。该项目的顺利完成将推动光纤通信混合集成光电路的发展。

Optical integrated circuits will be at the heart of future high speed fiber optic communications. These circuits require thin film optical components such as waveguides, couplers, and multiplexers. However, at present there exists no technique for fabrication of thin film components that is simple, fast, versatile, reliable and inexpensive. The most basic optical component is the thin film passive waveguide, in which channels of different index of refraction, patterned in a thin film, serve to conduct lightwaves. A straightforward low - cost technique for making waveguides would have wide applicability to hybrid optical integrated circuits, since other optical components could be generated with the same technology. In Phase I we demonstrate a novel waveguide fabrication method. We will use thin films of SiNx, Si0x, and SiCx that have been photosensitized by incorporation of bleachable organic dyes. These films will be masked and exposed to radiation; the resulting waveguide structures will be tested and evaluated. Bleaching of embedded dyes has been used to pattern polymer films. The innovative element in our process is the use of hard "glass" host-guest films, made by Jet Vapor Deposition. JVD allows room temperature deposition of dye-doped glass films on existing silicon based microelectronic circuits. JVD also has advantages in speed, flexibility and cost over sol-gel, CVD and high vacuum sputtering approaches. Successful completion of this project will advance the development of hybrid integrated optical circuits for fiber optic communications.