NSF Young Investigator: Cointegrated Polymer Waveguide Optical Interconnections for Wafer-Level MCM Systems

由于需要光学性能优于聚酰胺的坚固聚合物，但又适合于光互连波导直接与先进多芯片模块（mcm）的有源CMOS互连衬底协整，该研究寻求用自旋铸造材料聚苯硅氧烷（PPSQ）制造第一个光波导。低温加工的硅梯聚合物用作微电子的薄、厚薄膜电介质。这种材料潜在地提供了低损耗，可以用不太稳定的光学聚合物获得，同时提供了超过聚酰胺的热稳定性和工艺纬度（图像化、湿法、干法蚀刻）。本研究评估了PPSQ与平面化和叠层聚合物层的适用性，以提供多层系统支持直接在新兴有源MCM衬底的Si器件上制造高密度波导阵列。

Motivated by the need for robust polymers optically superior to polyamides yet suitable for cointegration of optical interconnection waveguides directly with the active CMOS interconnection substrate of advanced multi-chip modules (MCMs), the research seeks to fabricate the first optical waveguides with polyphenylsilsesquioxane (PPSQ), a spin castable, low temperature processed silicon ladder polymer used as a thin and thick film dielectric for microelectronics. This material potentially offers the low loss obtainable with less stable optical polymers while offering thermal stability and process latitude (patterning, wet, dry etching) exceeding that of polyamide. This research assesses the suitability of PPSQ together with planarizing and superstrate polymer layers for providing a multilayer system supporting fabrication of high density waveguide arrays directly over the Si devices of emerging active MCM substrate.