Optical properties of nitride-rich SiNx and its use in CMOS-compatible near-UV Bragg filter fabrication

Nitride-rich silicon-nitride (SiNx) is being explored for its potential as a suitable optical material for use in microsystems operating in the near-UV spectral range. Although silicon-rich SiNx is widely accepted as a CMOS-compatible dielectric and micromechanical material, its optical absorption l...

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Main Authors: Reinoud F. Wolffenbuttel, Declan Winship, Yutao Qin, Yogesh Gianchandani, David Bilby, Jaco H. Visser
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-12-01
Series:Optical Materials: X
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590147824000603
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author Reinoud F. Wolffenbuttel
Declan Winship
Yutao Qin
Yogesh Gianchandani
David Bilby
Jaco H. Visser
author_facet Reinoud F. Wolffenbuttel
Declan Winship
Yutao Qin
Yogesh Gianchandani
David Bilby
Jaco H. Visser
author_sort Reinoud F. Wolffenbuttel
collection DOAJ
description Nitride-rich silicon-nitride (SiNx) is being explored for its potential as a suitable optical material for use in microsystems operating in the near-UV spectral range. Although silicon-rich SiNx is widely accepted as a CMOS-compatible dielectric and micromechanical material, its optical absorption limits application to the visible to near-IR spectral range. However, this work shows that a balance can be achieved between a sufficiently high index of refraction (n> 2) and an acceptable optical loss (k<10−3) in nitride-rich SiNx of appropriate composition (x∼1.45). Bragg reflectors with a design wavelength at λo= 330 nm are used for validation. PECVD is used for sample preparation and experiments confirm that the spectral range available for use of SiNx-based optical microsystems extends to wavelengths as low as 300 nm.
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publishDate 2024-12-01
publisher Elsevier
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series Optical Materials: X
spelling doaj-art-dd40c4f5c0e542a19a68b22fe5c0ef222025-08-20T02:38:11ZengElsevierOptical Materials: X2590-14782024-12-012410034810.1016/j.omx.2024.100348Optical properties of nitride-rich SiNx and its use in CMOS-compatible near-UV Bragg filter fabricationReinoud F. Wolffenbuttel0Declan Winship1Yutao Qin2Yogesh Gianchandani3David Bilby4Jaco H. Visser5Laboratory for Electronic Instrumentation, Department of Microelectronics, Delft University of Technology, 2628 CD Delft, The Netherlands; Corresponding author.Center for Wireless Integrated MicroSensing and Systems (WIMS2) and the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USACenter for Wireless Integrated MicroSensing and Systems (WIMS2) and the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USACenter for Wireless Integrated MicroSensing and Systems (WIMS2) and the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USAResearch and Advanced Engineering, Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, MI 48121, USAResearch and Advanced Engineering, Ford Motor Company, Dearborn, MI 48121, USANitride-rich silicon-nitride (SiNx) is being explored for its potential as a suitable optical material for use in microsystems operating in the near-UV spectral range. Although silicon-rich SiNx is widely accepted as a CMOS-compatible dielectric and micromechanical material, its optical absorption limits application to the visible to near-IR spectral range. However, this work shows that a balance can be achieved between a sufficiently high index of refraction (n> 2) and an acceptable optical loss (k<10−3) in nitride-rich SiNx of appropriate composition (x∼1.45). Bragg reflectors with a design wavelength at λo= 330 nm are used for validation. PECVD is used for sample preparation and experiments confirm that the spectral range available for use of SiNx-based optical microsystems extends to wavelengths as low as 300 nm.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590147824000603Silicon-nitrideIntegrated silicon optical microsystemsNear-UV optical filterOptical MEMS technologyCMOS compatibility
spellingShingle Reinoud F. Wolffenbuttel
Declan Winship
Yutao Qin
Yogesh Gianchandani
David Bilby
Jaco H. Visser
Optical properties of nitride-rich SiNx and its use in CMOS-compatible near-UV Bragg filter fabrication
Optical Materials: X
Silicon-nitride
Integrated silicon optical microsystems
Near-UV optical filter
Optical MEMS technology
CMOS compatibility
title Optical properties of nitride-rich SiNx and its use in CMOS-compatible near-UV Bragg filter fabrication
title_full Optical properties of nitride-rich SiNx and its use in CMOS-compatible near-UV Bragg filter fabrication
title_fullStr Optical properties of nitride-rich SiNx and its use in CMOS-compatible near-UV Bragg filter fabrication
title_full_unstemmed Optical properties of nitride-rich SiNx and its use in CMOS-compatible near-UV Bragg filter fabrication
title_short Optical properties of nitride-rich SiNx and its use in CMOS-compatible near-UV Bragg filter fabrication
title_sort optical properties of nitride rich sinx and its use in cmos compatible near uv bragg filter fabrication
topic Silicon-nitride
Integrated silicon optical microsystems
Near-UV optical filter
Optical MEMS technology
CMOS compatibility
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590147824000603
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