Microring and microdisk optical resonators using silicon nanocrystals and erbium prepared using silicon technology

Abstract A methodology for the integration of narrow-linewidth light sources monolithically onto silicon using silicon process technology is presented. Microcavity resonator based narrow-linewidth light sources were designed and modeled using the 3-D full-wave finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method of solving Maxwell’s equations. The microcavity confines light to a small modal volume by resonant recirculation in a structure with low roundtrip optical loss. The resonators were formed in close proximity to waveguides used for evanescent-wave coupling of light out of the microcavity. Waveguides using Si-nanocrystals in SiO 2 are difficult to couple to planar microdisks because the mode extends deep into the oxide, whereas simulations show that microresonators using SiN x can. The coupling efficiency between the resonator and the single-mode waveguides was optimized by varying the gap size and the waveguide width and thickness. Luminescence from silicon nanoparticles in both SiO 2 and SiN x films was studied. Process optimization for forming Si nanoparticles in SiO 2 or SiN x including the effects of hydrogen annealing and the preparation of SiN x films with excess Si by various techniques (CVD and Si ion implantation) was performed. High-index-contrast microcavity resonators were fabricated using SiN x on SiO 2 with silicon nanoparticles and imaged using atomic force microscopy. The structures include microdisk and microring cavities doped with silicon nanoparticles with and without erbium.