Mid‐infrared suspended waveguide platform and building blocks. Issue 2 (1st April 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sánchez-Postigo, Alejandro; Wangüemert-Pérez, Juan Gonzalo; Soler Penadés, Jordi; Ortega-Moñux, Alejandro; Nedeljkovic, Milos; Halir, Robert; El Mokhtari Mimun, Faysal; Xu Cheng, Yolanda; Qu, Zhibo; Khokhar, Ali Z.; Osman, Ahmed; Cao, Wei; Littlejohns, Callum G.; Cheben, Pavel; Mashanovich, Goran Z.; Molina-Fernández, Íñigo
• Is Part Of: IET optoelectronics. Volume 13:Issue 2(2019)
• Page Start: 55
• Page End: 61
• Publication Date: 2019-04-01
• Subjects: optical losses -- silicon -- optical waveguides -- elemental semiconductors -- etching -- integrated optics -- optical fabrication -- photolithography -- optical metamaterials; suspended silicon waveguides -- subwavelength metamaterial cladding -- sensing applications -- molecular fingerprint region -- lithographic etch-step -- design rules -- fabrication process -- elemental building blocks -- interconnecting waveguides -- midinfrared wavelength range -- light–matter interaction -- midinfrared suspended waveguide platform -- propagation losses -- wavelength 3.8 mum -- wavelength 7.7 mum; Optoelectronics -- Periodicals; 621.36
• DOI: 10.1049/iet-opt.2018.5067
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1751-8768

Abstract

Abstract : In this work, the authors present their recent progress in the development of a platform for the mid‐infrared wavelength range, based on suspended silicon waveguides with subwavelength metamaterial cladding. The platform has some intrinsic advantages, which make it a very promising candidate for sensing applications in the molecular fingerprint region. Specifically, it can cover the full transparency window of silicon (up to a wavelength of 8 μm), only requires one lithographic etch‐step and can be designed for strong light–matter interaction. Design rules, practical aspects of the fabrication process and experimental results of a complete set of elemental building blocks operating at two very different wavelengths, 3.8 and 7.7 μm, are discussed. Propagation losses as low as 0.82 dB/cm at λ 0 = 3.8 μm and 3.1 dB/cm at λ 0 = 7.7 μm are attained for the interconnecting waveguides.