Photonic band gap material for integrated photonic application: technological challenges
We report on the fabrication of two-dimensional photonic crystals (PCs), aimed at operating in compact photonic systems, for optical communications. The targeted device is an optical add drop multiplexer (OADM) whose operation relies on the wavelength-selective and directional coupling of two optical waveguides. The microstructures are fabricated in an InP-based technology by means of a high resolution electron beam patterning generator (HR-EPBG), silicon nitride mask transfer and deep reactive ion etching (DRIE). Successful fabrication of arrays of holes with nano-scale dimensions is demonstrated with aspect ratios of the order of seven for devices operating in the long wavelength windows.
photonic band gap deep reactive ion etching electron beam lithography microphotonics