Micro structured coupling elements for 3D silicon optical interposer

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Contributors

Abstract

Current trends in electronic industry, such as Internet of Things (IoT) and Cloud Computing call for high interconnect bandwidth, increased number of active devices and high IO count. Hence the integration of on silicon optical waveguides becomes an alternative approach to cope with the performance demands. The application and fabrication of horizontal (planar) and vertical (Through Silicon Vias-TSVs) optical waveguides are discussed here. Coupling elements are used to connect both waveguide structures. Two micro-structuring technologies for integration of coupling elements are investigated: μ-mirror fabrication by nanoimprint (i) and dicing technique (ii). Nanoimprint technology creates highly precise horizontal waveguides with polymer (refractive index nC = 1.56 at 650 nm) as core. The waveguide ends in reflecting facets aligned to the optical TSVs. To achieve Total Internal Reflection (TIR), SiO2 (nCl = 1.46) is used as cladding. TSVs (diameter 20-40μm in 200-380μm interposer) are realized by BOSCH process1, oxidation and SU-8 filling techniques. To carry out the imprint, first a silicon structure is etched using a special plasma etching process. A polymer stamp is then created from the silicon template. Using this polymer stamp, SU-8 is imprinted aligned to vertical TSVs over Si surface.Waveguide dicing is presented as a second technology to create coupling elements on polymer waveguides. The reflecting mirror is created by 45° V-shaped dicing blade. The goal of this work is to develop coupling elements to aid 3D optical interconnect network on silicon interposer, to facilitate the realization of the emerging technologies for the upcoming years.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationIntegrated Optics
EditorsJiri Ctyroky, Inigo Molina-Fernandez, Pavel Cheben
PublisherSPIE - The international society for optics and photonics
ISBN (electronic)9781510609853
Publication statusPublished - 2017
Peer-reviewedYes

Publication series

SeriesProceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering
Volume10242
ISSN0277-786X

Conference

TitleIntegrated Optics: Physics and Simulations III 2017
Duration24 - 25 April 2017
CityPrague
CountryCzech Republic

External IDs

ORCID /0000-0002-0757-3325/work/139064922

Keywords

Keywords

  • 3D integration, 3D optical interconnect network, micro structuring techniques, nanoimprint technology, optical coupling elements, Optical interposer, optical TSV