Dresden 2009 – scientific programme
Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Downloads | Help
HL: Fachverband Halbleiterphysik
HL 43: Photonic crystals I
HL 43.6: Talk
Thursday, March 26, 2009, 11:00–11:15, POT 151
Silicon-based low-loss photonic crystal waveguides — •Daniel Pergande1 and Ralf B. Wehrspohn1,2 — 1Institut of Physics, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, 06099 Halle — 2Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials, 06120 Halle
Silicon is the dominating material in today's microelectronics, especially in modern telecommunications, and therefore a lot of experience in microstructuring of silicon exists. Its high dielectric constant makes it a promising candidate for PhC fabrication. Furthermore, the possibility of integrating electronics and optics on one chip is of great advantage for silicon-based PhC devices.
We present ridge waveguides and PhC waveguides etched in a high-index-contrast SOI-material made of a thin silicon slab embedded in two silica layers. Hence, fully symmetrical structures can be realized and two important conditions for low-loss guiding of light in PhC waveguides can be matched: First, the high index contrast leads to strong confinement of light, so the PhC waveguides allow theoretically lossless guiding of light because of operating below the lightcone. Second, the symmetry avoids polarization mixing and therefore prevents coupling between guided modes of different polarization.