| This research focuses on the design and technology development for waveguides, with emphasis being placed on the issues that are important for integration at the chip-level. In particular, this work concentrates on controlling interface properties and the shape of the individual elements that make up a waveguide system. Important contributions of the research to the field of on-chip optical interconnects include extensive investigation of scaling in waveguide technology, correlation between the processing conditions and the interface roughness of waveguide sidewalls, and the development of CMOS compatible process technology to fabricate micro-mirror structures in waveguides.; Siloxane polymer materials for waveguide applications. These materials have been found to have low losses of <1 dB/cm at evaluation wavelengths of 639 and 835 nm and have also been found to be stable under typical processing conditions and temperatures. Apart from the siloxane materials, commercially available fluorinated polyimides have also been used in this thesis to fabricate waveguide elements.; Measurements on channel waveguides fabricated in fluorinated polyimide showed an increase in loss from ∼3.3 dB/cm for a 16 μm wide guide to ∼26 dB/cm for a 2 μm wide guide at a measurement wavelength of 639 nm.; At lower RIE pressures (40 mtorr), the roughness produced on etched surfaces increased with a power law exponent of 1.1 with respect to the etched depth. At higher pressures (1000–2000 mtorr) the roughness was found to be independent of the etched depth. Analysis of the roughening data showed that rougher interfaces were produced when the reactant flux was normally incident on the exposed surface. We propose low-pressure RIE in order to minimize sidewall roughness and fabricate low-loss optical waveguides.; Analytical techniques have been developed to measure micro-mirror efficiencies in waveguides.; Design of optimum bend structures has been addressed, in order to fabricate low-loss bends, with transmission of up to 96%, while maintaining a minimum radii of curvature of 60 μm. Bandwidth capability of the optimum bend structures has been calculated to be 41 THz. Our calculations confirm that the bend design will not impose any bandwidth limitations on the transmitted optical signal. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
