Patent ID: 7920770

Claim:
A structure comprising: a substrate having a recess defined in a frontside thereof such that the substrate defines side and bottom surfaces of the recess; a layer disposed over the recess, (i) the layer comprising a first cladding material and a second cladding material, and (ii) the recess and a bottom surface of the layer defining a chamber; and a first optical waveguide disposed in the layer, the first optical waveguide having (i) a first core including a first core material and (ii) a first guided mode having a first field evanescent decay length, wherein (i) the first cladding material contacts the first core, the second cladding material contacts the substrate, and the first and second cladding materials are rigidly connected, (ii) the first core and at least one of the first and second cladding materials have an index contrast of greater than 10%, (iii) a majority of the first guided mode is contained in the core and in at least one of the first cladding material and the second cladding material, (iv) the first optical waveguide is disposed over the recess, and (v) all portions of the substrate disposed within about 5 first field evanescent decay lengths from the first optical waveguide are removed to define the recess.