Use of chemical-mechanical polishing for fabricating photonic bandgap structures

Patent · Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1999

OSTI ID:872730

Fleming, James G ^[1]; Lin, Shawn-Yu ^[1]; Hetherington, Dale L ^[1]; Smith, Bradley K ^[2]

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1. Albuquerque, NM
2. Edgewood, NM

A method is disclosed for fabricating a two- or three-dimensional photonic bandgap structure (also termed a photonic crystal, photonic lattice, or photonic dielectric structure). The method uses microelectronic integrated circuit (IC) processes to fabricate the photonic bandgap structure directly upon a silicon substrate. One or more layers of arrayed elements used to form the structure are deposited and patterned, with chemical-mechanical polishing being used to planarize each layer for uniformity and a precise vertical tolerancing of the layer. The use of chemical-mechanical planarization allows the photonic bandgap structure to be formed over a large area with a layer uniformity of about two-percent. Air-gap photonic bandgap structures can also be formed by removing a spacer material separating the arrayed elements by selective etching. The method is useful for fabricating photonic bandgap structures including Fabry-Perot resonators and optical filters for use at wavelengths in the range of about 0.2-20 .mu.m.

• Research Organization: Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), Albuquerque, NM, and Livermore, CA (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: AC04-94AL85000
• Assignee: Sandia Corporation (Albuquerque, NM)
• Patent Number(s): US 5998298
• OSTI ID: 872730
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

chemical-mechanical
polishing
fabricating
photonic
bandgap
structures
method
disclosed
two-
three-dimensional
structure
termed
crystal
lattice
dielectric
microelectronic
integrated
circuit
processes
fabricate
directly
silicon
substrate
layers
arrayed
elements
form
deposited
patterned
planarize
layer
uniformity
precise
vertical
tolerancing
planarization
allows
formed
two-percent
air-gap
removing
spacer
material
separating
selective
etching
useful
including
fabry-perot
resonators
optical
filters
wavelengths
range
2-20
selective etching
photonic band
photonic bandgap
chemical-mechanical polishing
dielectric structure
optical filter
silicon substrate
integrated circuit
photonic crystal
spacer material
bandgap structure
selective etch
mechanical polishing
optical filters
fabry-perot resonators
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