Versatile Silicon Nitride and Alumina Integrated Photonic Platforms for the Ultraviolet to Short-Wave Infrared

Abstract

We demonstrate scalable and intercompatible multilayer photonic platforms that operate over a multioctave wavelength range from the near-ultraviolet (NUV) into the short-wave infrared (SWIR). We demonstrate low-loss waveguides (≤3 dB/cm above 370 nm and <;0.3 dB/cm between 633 and 1550 nm for both TE and TM polarizations) and present verified component libraries at several wavelengths within this range. We demonstrate the use of thermo-optic heaters for tuning in the SWIR and show that we can automatically initialize complex optical filters. Our platforms are fabricated in a silicon CMOS foundry operating at a 90 nm node and consist of silicon nitride (SiN) and amorphous aluminum oxide (alumina, Al <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> O <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3</sub> ) optical waveguides cladd with silicon dioxide (SiO <sub xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sub> ). They can be combined in multilayer stacks to enable complex routing of multiple wavelengths, making them useful for applications ranging from atomic-molecular-optical applications to biophotonics to integrated microwave photonics.