Photobleachable Host-Guest Thin Films for Optical Waveguides

光集成电路将是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，目前还没有一种简单、快速、通用、可靠和廉价的薄膜元件制造技术。最基本的光学元件是薄膜无源波导，其中不同折射率的通道在薄膜上形成图案，用于传导光波。一种制造波导的简单低成本技术将广泛适用于混合光学集成电路，因为其他光学元件可以用同样的技术产生。在第一阶段，我们展示了一种新的波导制造方法。我们将使用SiNx， Si0x和SiCx薄膜，这些薄膜通过掺入可漂白的有机染料而光敏化。这些胶片将被掩盖并暴露在辐射中；所得到的波导结构将被测试和评估。浸渍染料的漂白已被用于聚合物薄膜的定型。我们工艺中的创新元素是使用由喷射气相沉积制成的硬“玻璃”主客薄膜。JVD允许在现有的硅基微电子电路上室温沉积染料掺杂玻璃薄膜。与溶胶-凝胶、CVD和高真空溅射相比，JVD在速度、灵活性和成本方面也具有优势。该项目的成功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.