Experimental Characterization of Roughness Induced Scattering Losses in PECVD SiC Waveguides

Autor:	C.K. Yang, Gregory Pandraud, P.J. French, E. Margallo-Balbas
Rok vydání:	2011
Předmět:	Thermal oxidation Materials science Silicon business.industry Transmission loss Wide-bandgap semiconductor chemistry.chemical_element Surface finish Atomic and Molecular Physics and Optics chemistry.chemical_compound Optics chemistry Surface roughness Silicon carbide business Contact area
Zdroj:	Journal of Lightwave Technology. 29:744-749
ISSN:	1558-2213 0733-8724
DOI:	10.1109/jlt.2011.2108264
Popis:	An atomic force microscope is used to directly measure the sidewall roughness of silicon carbide waveguides. In order to make the vertical walls accessible, the chip containing the rib waveguides was fixed on a 15 steel wedge and loaded onto an AFM scanner stage; this fitting ensures enough probe contact area on one of the sidewalls. The data was processed using a fully automated algorithm to extract the roughness in the direction of light propagation. This technique allows the investigation of devices at chip level without damaging the structures. The method was calibrated using a well-known smoothing process based on thermal oxidation of silicon waveguides to achieve low transmission loss and applied to PECVD silicon carbide waveguides. A very low loss behavior at 1.3 m ( dB/cm) is reported.
Databáze:	OpenAIRE
Externí odkaz:	https://explore.openaire.eu/search/publication?articleId=doi_________::5fc88f274b6343ac6a1907e9558e91e3 https://doi.org/10.1109/jlt.2011.2108264 Zobrazit plný text záznamu