Silicon photonic chip optical coupling structures

Abstract

A silicon photonic chip is provided. An active silicon layer that includes a photonic device is on a front side of the silicon photonic chip. A silicon substrate that includes an etched backside cavity is on a backside of the silicon photonic chip. A microlens is integrated into the etched backside cavity. A buried oxide layer is located between the active silicon layer and the silicon substrate. The buried oxide layer is an etch stop for the etched backside cavity.

Description

Technical field [0001] The present disclosure generally relates to integrated circuit and silicon chip technology, and more specifically, to the coupling of optical signals from silicon photonic chips. Background technique [0002] The communication bandwidth between and among computers plays an important role in the overall performance of the system. The tendency for multi-core processors and multi-level processors in each computer requires an increase in communication between processors and between processors and their memories. The electrical data connection performs well in short distances, but the electrical data connection is limited when the connection distance and frequency increase. The optical data connection on the optical fiber can communicate at a high speed over a long distance with low transmission loss. However, silicon photonic chips are expensive compared to their electrical counterparts. [0003] Silicon (Si) photonics is a technology researched and developed ...

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Problems solved by technology

However, silicon photonic chips are expensive compared to their electrical counterparts

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