Optoelectronic device
10222677 · 2019-03-05
Assignee
Inventors
- Guomin YU (Glendora, CA, US)
- Hooman Abediasl (Pasadena, CA, US)
- Damiana Lerose (Pasadena, CA, US)
- Amit Singh NAGRA (Altadena, CA, US)
- Pradeep Srinivasan (Fremont, CA, US)
- Haydn Frederick Jones (Reading, GB)
- Andrew George RICKMAN (Marlborough, GB)
- Aaron John ZILKIE (Pasadena, CA, US)
Cpc classification
Y02P70/50
GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
G02F1/2257
PHYSICS
Y02E10/544
GENERAL TAGGING OF NEW TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS; GENERAL TAGGING OF CROSS-SECTIONAL TECHNOLOGIES SPANNING OVER SEVERAL SECTIONS OF THE IPC; TECHNICAL SUBJECTS COVERED BY FORMER USPC CROSS-REFERENCE ART COLLECTIONS [XRACs] AND DIGESTS
H01L31/0312
ELECTRICITY
H01L31/02327
ELECTRICITY
International classification
H01L31/0312
ELECTRICITY
H01L31/11
ELECTRICITY
H01L31/0232
ELECTRICITY
Abstract
An optoelectronic device and method of making the same. The device comprising: a substrate; an epitaxial crystalline cladding layer, on top of the substrate; and an optically active region, above the epitaxial crystalline cladding layer; wherein the epitaxial crystalline cladding layer has a refractive index which is less than a refractive index of the optically active region, such that the optical power of the optoelectronic device is confined to the optically active region.
Claims
1. A detector remodulator comprising: a silicon on insulator (SOI) chip having a silicon substrate, an insulator layer and a topmost silicon layer; a detector coupled to a first input waveguide; a modulator, coupled to a second input waveguide and an output waveguide; and an electrical circuit connecting the detector to the modulator; wherein the modulator includes a waveguide including: a modulation region at which a semiconductor junction is set across the waveguide of the modulator, the junction comprising a first doped region and a second doped region; wherein: the electrical circuit is connected to a first electrical pad on a first side of the modulation region, the first electrical pad forming a contact directly to the first doped region, the electrical circuit is connected to a second electrical pad on a second side of the modulation region, the second electrical pad forming a contact directly to the second doped region, and the electrical circuit comprises a signal path from the detector to the modulator, the signal path having a portion in an integrated circuit; and wherein the modulator is located at a portion of the SOI chip at which the topmost silicon layer and the insulator of the silicon on insulator chip have been replaced by a cladding layer on top of the substrate; the modulation region of the modulator comprising an optically active region, above the cladding layer; wherein the cladding layer has a refractive index which is less than a refractive index of the optically active region, such that an optical mode of the modulator is confined to the optically active region.
2. The detector remodulator of claim 1, wherein the detector is located at a second portion of the SOI chip at which the topmost silicon layer and the insulator layer of the silicon on insulator chip have been replaced by a cladding layer on top of the substrate, the detector comprising an optically active region, above the cladding layer; and wherein the cladding layer has a refractive index which is less than a refractive index of the optically active region, such that an optical mode of the detector is confined to the optically active region.
3. The detector remodulator of claim 1, wherein the optically active region is formed of: SiGeSn, GeSn, InGaNAs, or InGaNAsSb; and wherein the optically active region is formed of Si.sub.xGe.sub.1-x-ySn.sub.y where 5%x20%, 1%y10%.
4. The detector remodulator of claim 1, wherein the cladding layer is formed of a crystalline epitaxial material.
5. The detector remodulator of claim 4, wherein the cladding layer is formed of silicon or SiGe and is epitaxially grown silicon or SiGe.
6. The detector remodulator of claim 1, further comprising a silicon seed layer between the cladding layer and the optically active region.
7. The detector remodulator of claim 1, wherein the first input waveguide, the detector, the modulator, the second input waveguide, and output waveguide are arranged within the same horizontal plane as one another.
8. The detector remodulator of claim 1, wherein the semiconductor junction of the modulation region is a p-i-n junction having a p-doped region, an intrinsic region, and an n-doped region, wherein the first electrical pad forms a contact directly to the p-doped region of the p-i-n junction and the second electrical pad forms a contact directly to the n-doped region of the p-i-n junction.
9. The detector remodulator of claim 1, wherein the detector comprises a waveguide portion with a semiconductor junction set horizontally across the waveguide portion, and wherein the semiconductor junction of the detector is a p-i-n junction.
10. The detector remodulator of claim 1, wherein the modulator is an electro-absorption modulator (EAM).
11. The detector remodulator of claim 1, wherein the modulator is a Mach-Zehnder modulator (MZM); and wherein each arm of the MZM includes a modulation region and a phase shift region in addition to the modulation region; and wherein, in each arm, the phase shift region has a lower speed than the modulation region.
12. The detector remodulator of claim 1, wherein the electrical circuit is surface mounted.
13. A detector remodulator comprising: a silicon on insulator (SOI) chip having a silicon substrate, an insulator layer and a topmost silicon layer; a detector coupled to a first input waveguide; a modulator, coupled to a second input waveguide and an output waveguide; and an electrical circuit connecting the detector to the modulator; wherein the modulator includes a waveguide including: a modulation region at which a semiconductor junction is set across the waveguide of the modulator, the junction comprising a first doped region and a second doped region; wherein: the electrical circuit is connected to a first electrical pad on a first side of the modulation region, the first electrical pad forming a contact directly to the first doped region, the electrical circuit is connected to a second electrical pad on a second side of the modulation region, the second electrical pad forming a contact directly to the second doped region, and the electrical circuit comprises a signal path from the detector to the modulator, the signal path having a portion in an integrated circuit; and wherein the detector is located at a portion of the SOI chip at which the topmost silicon layer and the insulator of the silicon on insulator chip have been replaced by a cladding layer on top of the substrate; the detector comprising an optically active region above the cladding layer; wherein the cladding layer has a refractive index which is less than a refractive index of the optically active region, such that an optical mode of the detector is confined to the optically active region.
14. The detector remodulator of claim 13, wherein the cladding layer is formed of a crystalline epitaxial material.
15. The detector remodulator of claim 14, wherein the cladding layer is formed of silicon or SiGe and is epitaxially grown silicon or SiGe.
16. The detector remodulator of claim 13, wherein the electrical circuit is surface mounted.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
(1) Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION
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(12) The light signal, having passed through the interface into the device 104, enters an optically active region (OAR) 105 where it may be processed or modified. For example, the optically active region may be any of: a photodiode; an electro-absorption modulator; or an avalanche photodiode. Depending on the nature of the optically active region, the light signal may then exit the OAR and device 104 via interface 108, into an output waveguide 106.
(13) The output waveguide 106 guides light in direction 107, and the interface 108 may be at an angle .sub.2 relative to the guiding direction 107 of the light in the output waveguide. As with angle .sub.1, the angle .sub.2 may take a value between 0 and 10. In some embodiments .sub.2 is approximately 8, and is generally equal to .sub.1.
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(16) A first portion 210 of the first doped region 208 is heavily doped in comparison to the remaining first doped region. This portion 210 is connected to an electrode 232a, which extends through the SiO.sub.2 capping layer 206. Similarly, a second portion 211 of the second doped region 209 is heavily doped in comparison to the remaining second doped region. This portion 211 is connected to a second electrode 232b, which extends through the capping layer 206. The OAR 105 is generally located in a cavity of a silicon layer, the cavity being partially defined by silicon sidewalls 207a and 207b. The intrinsic part 205 in this example is undoped, and so the OAR can be described as a p-i-n junction. As the intrinsic part 205 extends away from the cladding layer, it may be described as a proud or rib waveguide where the rib is provided by the intrinsic part 205 and a part of first 208 and second 209 doped regions which extend up the side of the intrinsic part 205 and the slab is provided by a part of the doped regions 208 and 209 which extends along the upper surface of the cladding layer 203. The rib waveguide may have a height of around 2.8 m as measured from the upper surface of the cladding layer, and the slabs may have a height of around 200 nm. The width of the rib waveguide (i.e. the horizontal distance between the parts of the first and second doped regions which extend up the side of the intrinsic part 205) may be around 0.8 m. The cladding layer may be approximately 400 nm thick (i.e. as measured from the uppermost surface of the silicon substrate to the uppermost surface of the cladding layer). In such examples, the coupling efficiency from the input waveguide into the waveguide 205 has been computed as approximately 99% for TE mode and 98.7% for TM mode.
(17) The cladding layer 203 functions to confine light signals entering the OAR into the rib waveguide. It does so primarily by being formed of a material having a refractive index which is less than that of the OAR. For example, the cladding layer may be formed of a silicon layer which may be epitaxially grown or deposited using chemical vapour deposition which can have a refractive index of 3.3 to 3.8. In. In contrast, the waveguide and/or OAR may be formed primarily of silicon germanium (SiGe) which can have a refractive index of 4.0-4.7. This change in refractive index across the interface between the OAR and cladding layer may provide enough index contrast (i.e. n) to confine the light signals to the waveguide. It is notable that good confinement can be achieved without a buried oxide layer below the OAR, as discussed above.
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(19) Next, as illustrated in
(20) After the cladding layer has been provided, the optically active region 217 is grown as shown in
(21) Next, as shown in
(22) As a further step, shown in
(23) Similarly, as shown in
(24) So as to decrease the electrical resistance of the first 208 and second 209 doped regions, further doping may be performed as will be discussed. In
(25) As a further step shown in
(26) A variant device is shown in
(27) Similarly, a further variant device is shown in
(28) Another variant device is shown in
(29) A further variant device is shown in
(30) The base 701 includes a first slab region extending away from a first sidewall of the waveguide ridge in a first direction, and a second slab region extending away from a second sidewall of the waveguide ridge in a second direction; the second direction being opposite the first direction.
(31) The device includes a first doped region, the first doped region including a first doped slab region 713a and a first doped sidewall region extending along the first sidewall of the waveguide.
(32) As shown in the Figure, the ridge of the waveguide is formed from a lower ridge portion 712a and an upper ridge portion 712b. The lower ridge portion is in contact with and extends away from the base; the base and lower ridge portion both being formed from the first material M.sub.1. The upper ridge portion is made from the second material M.sub.2 located on top of the lower ridge portion in that it is in contact with and extends away from the lower ridge portion.
(33) The first doped sidewall region extends along the entire sidewall of the ridge including both the lower ridge portion 712a and the upper ridge portion 712b. The first doped sidewall region therefore comprises a first lower sidewall portion 713b which extends along the first sidewall at the lower ridge portion of the ridge; and a first upper sidewall portion 713c which extends along the sidewall at the upper ridge portion of the ridge.
(34) Similarly, at the second side of the rib waveguide, the device comprises a second doped slab region 714a and a second doped sidewall region extending along the second sidewall of the waveguide. The second doped sidewall is made up of a second lower sidewall portion 714b which extends along the second sidewall at the lower ridge portion of the ridge; and a second upper sidewall portion 713c which extends along the sidewall at the upper ridge portion of the ridge.
(35) The dopant concentration at the doped slab regions and the lower doped sidewall regions are higher than those of the upper doped sidewall regions. In the example shown, the first doped slab region and the first lower sidewall doped region are n++ doped, whilst the first upper sidewall is n doped; the n++ doped region typically contains at least one to two orders of magnitude more dopant per cm.sup.3 as compared to the n doped region. The second doped slab region and second lower sidewall doped region are p++ doped whilst the first upper sidewall is p doped.
(36) In the example shown, the first material M.sub.1 is formed from silicon (Si) and the second material M.sub.2 is formed of silicon germanium (SiGe) or silicon germanium tin (SiGeSn). However, it is envisaged that the structure of this embodiment could equally be applied to other suitable optical materials. Examples of suitable dopant concentrations for an M.sub.1/M.sub.2 structure of Si/SiGe or Si/SiGeSn are shown in Table 1 below:
(37) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Doping Doping range type [1/cm.sup.3] n 1e15-1e18 p 1e15-1e18 n ++ 1e18-1e20 p ++ 1e18-1e20
(38) As can be seen in
(39) An electrical contact (not shown) will be located at each of the slab regions in order to apply a bias across the junction which is formed by the doped regions. These electrical contacts will be located directly onto the slab (i.e. at the upper surface of the lab, on either side of the ridge). Typically the contacts may be equidistant from the respective sidewalls of the ridge.
(40) The first and second upper sidewall portions 713c, 714c extend into the upper ridge portion of the ridge by a distance d.sub.n, d.sub.p respectively, each of which is less than the respective distance d.sub.np2, d.sub.pp2, by which the lower sidewall portions 713b, 714b each extend into the lower portion 712a of the rib waveguide. Examples of typical measurements are given (in nm) in Table 2:
(41) TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Geometry Tolerance h.sub.1 [nm] 100-800 h.sub.2 [nm] 100-400 h.sub.3 [nm] 0-400 d.sub.np1, d.sub.np2 [nm] 50-300 d.sub.pp1, d.sub.pp2 [nm] 50-300 d.sub.p [nm] 50-300 d.sub.n [nm] 50-300
(42) In this example, the waveguide device takes the form of a waveguide electro-absorption modulator (EAM). However, it is possible that the device could instead take the form of another optoelectronic component such as a waveguide photodiode (PD).
(43) The structure of the device and its method of manufacture are similar to that disclosed in U.S. 62/429,701, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference.
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(50) While the invention has been described in conjunction with the exemplary embodiments described above, many equivalent modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art when given this disclosure. Accordingly, the exemplary embodiments of the invention set forth above are considered to be illustrative and not limiting. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.
(51) All references referred to above are hereby incorporated by reference.
LIST OF FEATURES
(52) 100 Chip 101 Input waveguide 102,107 Light guiding direction 103 Input waveguide/OAR interface 104 Optoelectronic device 105, 205 OAR 106 Output waveguide 108 OAR/Output waveguide interface 201 Silicon substrate 202a, 202b Buried oxide 203, 416 Cladding layer 206 Capping layer 207a, 207b Silicon-on-insulator layer 208 First doped region 209 Second doped region 210 First heavily doped region 211 Second heavily doped region 212 First mask 213 Cavity 214 Upper surface of substrate 215a, 215b Insulating liner 217 Grown optically active region 218 Second mask 219 Ridge of rib waveguide 220a, 220b Slabs of rib waveguide 221 Capping layer 222 Third mask 223 First dopant implantation 224 Fourth mask 225 Second dopant implantation 226 Fifth mask 227 Third dopant implantation 228 Sixth mask 229 Fourth dopant implantation 230 Seventh mask 231a, 231b Via opening 232a, 232b Electrodes 401 Seed layer