Development of CMOS-Compatible Integrated Silicon Photonics Devices

Abstract

This paper surveys technical challenges involved in designing and manufacturing integrated optoelectronic devices in a high-volume complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) microelectronic fabrication facility. The paper begins by introducing the motivations for building these devices in silicon. We discuss the advantages and challenges of both hybrid and monolithic strategies for optoelectronic integration. We then discuss the issues involved in building the devices in a standard CMOS facility, including specific technical examples. These include low-loss waveguides (WGs) for Raman lasers, fast silicon modulators, SiGe heterostructures for infrared photodetection, silicon-oxynitride (SiON) devices on silicon-on-insulator (SOI), silicon optical bench (SiOB) technology, and waveguide tapers. We conclude with a discussion and recommendations for future work in silicon photonics