Optical/Photonic Properties of Hybrid Silicon-on-Insulator Materials

本项目的目的是探索绝缘体上硅（SOI）的基本材料和光学工程方面，作为一种手段，联合收割机光学和电子功能在一个共同的硅衬底。虽然硅对于大多数重要的光学效应来说并不是一种特别友好的材料，但SOI材料系统的开发和引入可能为硅带来基于光的功能创造了机会。SOI系统的关键特征是在绝缘二氧化硅（SiO2）表面上形成的单晶Si薄层。SiO2表面使得可以使形成在Si薄层中的相邻电子部件彼此绝缘。光学机会的出现是因为Si薄层可以起到光波导的作用，通过光纤中采用的相同物理机制捕获光。该项目将研究混合SOI材料的光学/光子特性，该术语指的是通过将纳米颗粒，纳米结构，分子，聚合物或其他材料的覆盖层添加到传统SOI材料中而形成的材料家族。基本思想是通过覆盖层增加光学功能，使用SOI结构支持的波导模式的指数尾部将该光学功能耦合到Si层的内部。这是一个令人惊讶的强大的效果：它已经被证明，一个单层的贵金属纳米粒子可以增加在薄的SOI硅层的吸收约20倍，在0.8 μ m。我们将研究各种混合SOI材料在线性和非线性条件下对连续波和脉冲照明的光学响应随频率（或波长）的变化，以揭示这种材料在多大程度上可能成为未来光学/光子学和电子技术的重要平台。该项目涉及材料科学专题领域的基础研究问题，具有很高的潜在技术相关性。该研究将在基础水平上为电子/光子器件的重要制造方面提供基础材料科学知识。 新的实验材料科学和光学工具现在可以允许更详细地观察基本表面和光学过程，当更好地理解时，可以促进基础科学和技术的进步。从研究中获得的基本知识和理解有望有助于提高先进计算和通信设备和电路的性能和稳定性。 该计划的一个重要特点是通过在一个基本和技术上重要的领域对学生进行培训来整合研究和教育。

The aim of this project is to explore fundamental materials and optical engineering aspects of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) as a means to combine optical and electronic functions on a common silicon substrate. Although silicon is not an especially hospitable material for most important optical effects, the development and introduction of the SOI materials system may have created an opportunity for bringing light-based functionality to silicon. The key feature of the SOI system is a thin layer of single-crystal Si formed on an insulating silicon-dioxide (SiO2) surface. The SiO2 surface makes it possible to insulate from each other adjacent electronic components formed in the thin layer of Si. The optical opportunity arises because that thin layer of Si can function as an optical waveguide, trapping light by the same physical mechanism employed in an optical fiber. This project will investigate the optical/photonic properties of hybrid SOI materials, a term that refers to a family of materials formed by adding overlayers of nanoparticles, nanostructures, molecules, polymers or other materials to conventional SOI material. The basic idea is to add optical functionality via the overlayers, using the exponential tails of the waveguide modes supported by the SOI structure to couple this optical functionality to the interior of the Si layer. This is a surprisingly strong effect: it has already been demonstrated that a monolayer of noble-metal nanoparticles can increase the absorption in the thin SOI Si layer by approximately a factor of 20 at 0.8 um. Measurements of the optical response of a wide range of hybrid SOI materials as a function of frequency (or wavelength) for continuous-wave and pulsed illumination in both the linear and nonlinear regimes will be studied to reveal the degree to which such materials might become an important platform for future optical/photonic and electronic technologies.%%%The project addresses basic research issues in a topical area of materials science having high potential technological relevance. The research will contribute basic materials science knowledge at a fundamental level to important fabrication aspects of electronic/photonic devices. New experimental materials science and optical tools are now available to allow more detailed observation of elementary surface and optical processes which when better understood allow advances in fundamental science and technology. The basic knowledge and understanding gained from the research is expected to contribute to improving the perform-ance and stability of advanced devices and circuits for computing and communications. An important feature of the program is the integration of research and education through the training of students in a fundamentally and technologically significant area.***