Optical chip, optical chip manufacturing method and laser radar
By setting a thermal resistance structure between adjacent antenna components of the optical chip, the problem of antenna array aberration in the optical chip is solved, and the detection capability and accuracy of lidar are improved.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202311866635.5
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2023-12-28
- Publication Date
- 2025-07-01
AI Technical Summary
There are aberrations in the antenna arrays in existing optical chips that do not match the preset, which affects the detection capability and accuracy of the lidar.
An optical chip is designed to block heat conduction by setting a heat-resistance structure between two adjacent antenna components, reducing heat conduction, reducing the amount of material on the substrate layer, and limiting the amount of heat transfer, thereby reducing thermal interference between antenna arrays.
By reducing thermal interference, the correction ability of aberrations between each antenna array is improved, making it tend to or equal to a preset value, and the detection capability and accuracy of the lidar are improved.
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Figure CN120233602A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This application belongs to the technical field of chip manufacturing, and more specifically, relates to an optical chip, a method for manufacturing an optical chip, and a lidar. Background Art
[0002] Generally, in order to correct the aberration between each antenna array in an optical phased array lidar, heating electrodes corresponding to each antenna array are used to heat each antenna array for thermo-optic modulation. By thermo-optic modulation, the refractive index of each antenna array is changed, thereby correcting the aberration between adjacent antenna arrays.
[0003] Specifically, in the process of manufacturing an optical phased array using CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) processing technology, inevitable manufacturing tolerances will inevitably occur, including but not limited to fluctuations in the thickness of the deposited thin film, deviations between the actual width and actual height of the processed waveguide and the preset values, deviations between the refractive index of the deposited thin film and the preset refractive index during simulation, etc. Coupled with the influence of application environment factors on the optical phased array lidar, it will cause the aberration between each antenna array in the phased array to be inconsistent with the preset or even vary greatly, seriously affecting the detection ability and accuracy of the phased array lidar.
[0004] However, due to the many influencing factors for the aberration generated by each antenna array, heating each antenna array by adding heating electrodes to change the refractive index of each antenna array by thermo-optic modulation is not sufficient to correct the phase difference of the array, and the detection ability and accuracy of the phased array lidar are still adversely affected. Summary of the Invention
[0005] The purpose of the embodiments of this application is to provide an optical chip, a method for manufacturing an optical chip, and a lidar to solve the technical problem that the aberration of each antenna array in the existing optical chip is inconsistent with the preset, affecting the detection ability of the lidar.
[0006] To achieve the above purpose, the technical solution adopted in this application is as follows:
[0007] Provide an optical chip, including a cladding layer and a substrate layer stacked, and a plurality of antenna components located inside the cladding layer;
[0008] Wherein, a heat insulation structure is provided between at least one group of two adjacent antenna components, and the extension dimension of the heat insulation structure in the stacking direction is greater than the thickness from the top of the optical chip to the substrate layer, for blocking the heat conduction between the antenna components.
[0009] In some embodiments, in the stacking direction, the size of the heat insulation structure is equal to the thickness of the optical chip.
[0010] In some embodiments, the antenna assembly includes an antenna array and a heating device for heating the antenna array;
[0011] The length direction of the heat insulation structure is consistent with the length direction of the optical antennas in the antenna array, and the length of the heat insulation structure is not less than the length of the optical antenna array;
[0012] Wherein, the length direction is perpendicular to the stacking direction.
[0013] In some embodiments, the heat insulation structure includes a heat insulation groove;
[0014] Alternatively, the heat insulation structure includes a plurality of heat insulation holes / heat insulation grooves arranged along the length direction of the optical antennas in the antenna assembly.
[0015] In some embodiments, the antenna assembly includes a plurality of optical antennas, and the optical antennas are single-layer waveguide structures or double-layer waveguide structures.
[0016] In some embodiments, the optical antenna includes any one of a silicon waveguide structure, a silicon nitride waveguide structure, a double-layer waveguide structure formed by a silicon waveguide structure and a silicon nitride waveguide structure, or a double-layer silicon nitride waveguide structure.
[0017] In some embodiments, the substrate layer includes any one of an SOI substrate, a silicon substrate, a quartz substrate, and a glass substrate.
[0018] In some embodiments, the heating device is located between the substrate layer and the antenna array.
[0019] In some embodiments, the optical chip includes two of the antenna assemblies, and the two antenna assemblies are a transmitting antenna assembly and a receiving antenna assembly, respectively.
[0020] In some embodiments, the antenna assembly includes one or more heating devices;
[0021] When the antenna assembly includes one heating device, the heating device is correspondingly arranged with the antenna array;
[0022] When the antenna assembly includes a plurality of heating devices, the plurality of heating devices are arranged in one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of optical antennas in the antenna array.
[0023] The beneficial effects of the optical chip provided by this application are as follows:
[0024] Compared with the prior art, in the optical chip provided by the present application, a plurality of antenna components are arranged at intervals in the cladding layer, and the heat insulation structure of the optical chip is arranged between any two adjacent antenna components. The heat insulation structure extends along the lamination direction of the cladding layer and the substrate layer, and the extension dimension of the heat insulation structure along the lamination direction is greater than the thickness from the top of the optical chip to the substrate layer, that is, at least part of the substrate layer located between two adjacent antenna components is cut.
[0025] Heat will be transferred from one of any two adjacent antenna components to the other through the substrate layer. By setting the heat insulation structure, at least part of the substrate layer located between two adjacent antenna components is removed, that is, the material amount of the substrate layer located between two adjacent antenna components is reduced, the heat transfer amount per unit time between any two adjacent antenna components is limited, the thermal interference between adjacent antenna arrays is reduced or even eliminated, and further the correction of the aberration between each antenna array is increased, making it more tend to or equal to the aberration that conforms to the preset, thereby improving the detection ability and accuracy of the phased array lidar.
[0026] Another object of the present application is to provide a lidar, which includes the optical chip as described above.
[0027] For the lidar provided by the present application, due to the application of the optical chip provided by the present application, the material amount of the substrate layer located between two adjacent antenna components in the optical chip is reduced, the heat transfer amount per unit time between any two adjacent antenna components is limited, the thermal interference between adjacent antenna arrays is reduced or even eliminated, and further the correction of the aberration between each antenna array is increased, making it more tend to or equal to the aberration that conforms to the preset, and finally improving the detection ability and accuracy of the lidar.
[0028] Another object of the present application is to provide a method for manufacturing an optical chip, and the manufacturing method includes:
[0029] Providing a prefabricated layer group, the prefabricated layer group includes a cladding layer and a substrate layer arranged in a stacked manner; wherein, a plurality of antenna components are prefabricated inside the cladding layer;
[0030] Cutting the prefabricated layer group in the lamination direction to form a heat insulation structure, and making the extension dimension of the heat insulation structure in the lamination direction greater than the thickness from the top of the cladding layer to the substrate layer.
[0031] In some embodiments, making the extension dimension of the heat insulation structure in the lamination direction greater than the thickness from the top of the cladding layer to the substrate layer includes:
[0032] Making the dimension of the heat insulation structure in the lamination direction equal to the thickness of the optical chip.
[0033] In some embodiments, cutting the prefabricated layer group along the stacking direction to form a heat insulation structure includes:
[0034] Cutting the prefabricated layer group by any one of deep silicon etching process, plasma etching process, and wet etching dicing process to form a heat insulation structure.
[0035] The beneficial effects of the optical chip manufacturing method provided by this application are as follows:
[0036] Compared with the prior art, in the optical chip manufacturing method provided by this application, on the provided prefabricated layer group, by cutting the prefabricated layer group along the stacking direction to form a heat insulation structure, at least part of the substrate layer between two adjacent antenna components is cut, so as to achieve the purpose of restricting the heat transfer amount between any two adjacent antenna components per unit time, reducing or even eliminating the thermal interference between adjacent antenna arrays, and further increasing the correction of the aberration between each antenna array.
[0037] The cutting operation included in this manufacturing method is relatively simple and easier to implement. This manufacturing method has a short processing cycle and low cost, and can reduce the production cycle and production cost of the optical chip. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0038] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of this application, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of this application. For those of ordinary skill in the art, without creative efforts, other drawings can also be obtained based on these drawings.
[0039] Figure 1 Schematic diagram of an optical chip along the stacking direction provided by an embodiment of this application;
[0040] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of an optical chip along the stacking direction provided by another embodiment of this application;
[0041] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of an optical chip along the stacking direction provided by yet another embodiment of this application;
[0042] Figure 4 Schematic diagram of an optical chip along the stacking direction provided by still another embodiment of this application;
[0043] Figure 5 For Figure 2 , Figure 3 or Figure 4 Cross-sectional view of the optical chip provided along the stacking direction at the position of the heat insulation structure;
[0044] Figure 6Schematic diagram of an optical chip without a heat insulation structure along the stacking direction, where the heat transfer direction is shown by an arrow;
[0045] Figure 7 Schematic diagram of the optical chip provided by the embodiment of the present application along the stacking direction, where the heat transfer direction is shown by an arrow;
[0046] Figure 8 Schematic diagram of the optical chip provided by the embodiment of the present application along the stacking direction, where an antenna array is shown;
[0047] Figure 9 Cross-sectional view of the optical chip provided by the embodiment of the present application in the plane where the stacking direction and the first direction intersect;
[0048] Figure 10 Cross-sectional view of the optical chip provided by the embodiment of the present application in the plane where the stacking direction and the length direction intersect.
[0049] Figure 11 Flow chart of the method for manufacturing the optical chip provided by the embodiment of the present application.
[0050] Among them, the reference numerals in the figure are as follows:
[0051] 100, optical chip;
[0052] 101, substrate layer; 102, cladding layer; 103, antenna assembly; 104, heat insulation structure; 105, optical beam splitting structure; 106, carrier board;
[0053] 1021, first cladding layer; 1022, second cladding layer;
[0054] 1031, antenna array; 1032, heating device; 1031a, optical antenna. Detailed implementation manners
[0055] In order to make the technical problems, technical solutions and beneficial effects to be solved by the present application clearer, the present application will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present application and are not used to limit the present application.
[0056] It should be noted that when an element is referred to as being "fixed to" or "disposed on" another element, it can be directly on the other element or indirectly on the other element. When an element is referred to as being "connected to" another element, it can be directly connected to the other element or indirectly connected to the other element.
[0057] It should be understood that the orientation or positional relationship indicated by terms such as "length", "width", "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inner", "outer", etc. is based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the drawings. It is only for the convenience of describing the present application and simplifying the description, rather than indicating or implying that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, be constructed and operated in a specific orientation, and therefore should not be construed as a limitation to the present application.
[0058] In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are only used for descriptive purposes and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the quantity of the indicated technical features. Thus, the features defined with "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of such features. In the description of the present application, "a plurality of" means two or more, unless otherwise specifically defined.
[0059] Now, the optical chip 100, the manufacturing method of the optical chip 100, and the lidar provided by the embodiments of the present application will be described.
[0060] Please refer to Figures 1 to 5 As shown, the optical chip 100 provided by the embodiments of the present application includes a cladding layer 102 and a substrate layer 101 which are stacked, and a plurality of antenna components 103.
[0061] The optical chip 100 is provided with a heat insulation structure 104. The heat insulation structure 104 is provided between at least one group of adjacent two antenna components 103. The heat insulation structure 104 extends along the stacking direction of the cladding layer 102 and the substrate layer 101. The extension dimension of the heat insulation structure 104 in the stacking direction is greater than the thickness from the top of the optical chip 100 to the substrate layer 101, that is, the extension dimension of the heat insulation structure 104 in the stacking direction is greater than the layer thickness of the cladding layer 102 and less than or equal to the sum of the layer thicknesses of the cladding layer 102 and the substrate layer 101, and is used to block the heat conduction between the antenna components 103.
[0062] The substrate layer 101 generally refers to the silicon substrate layer 101, and its materials include but are not limited to silicon, silicon carbide, silicon nitride, etc. Generally, the substrate layer 101 is supported on the carrier plate 106.
[0063] The cladding layer 102 generally refers to a layer structure provided with the antenna component 103 and the heating device 1032, which can be a single-layer structure or a multi-layer structure stacked. Among them, the cladding layer 102 is insulated from the substrate layer 101. Among them, the material of the cladding layer 102 includes but is not limited to silicon oxide or benzocyclobutene. When the cladding layer 102 includes a multi-layer structure, the materials of the multi-layer structure can be the same or different.
[0064] It should be noted that an optical coupling structure, an optical beam splitting structure 105, or a phase shifter array may also be provided in the cladding layer 102. The layer formed by the optical coupling structure, the optical beam splitting structure 105, the phase shifter array, and the antenna array 1031 may be referred to as a semiconductor layer or a waveguide layer. In the embodiments of the present application, the cladding layer 102 contains a semiconductor layer or a waveguide layer, and the specific structure of the semiconductor layer or the waveguide layer is a known technology to those skilled in the art, and the embodiments of the present application do not describe it in detail.
[0065] In the optical chip 100 provided by the embodiments of the present application, a plurality of antenna components 103 are arranged at intervals in the cladding layer 102. The heat insulation structure 104 of the optical chip 100 is arranged between any two adjacent antenna components 103. The heat insulation structure 104 extends along the stacking direction of the cladding layer 102 and the substrate layer 101, and the extension dimension of the heat insulation structure 104 along the stacking direction is greater than the thickness from the top of the optical chip 100 to the substrate layer 101, that is, at least part of the substrate layer 101 between two adjacent antenna components 103 is cut.
[0066] As Figure 6 and Figure 7 shown, heat will be transferred from one of any two adjacent antenna components 103 to the other through the substrate layer 101. As Figure 7 shown, by setting the heat insulation structure 104, at least part of the substrate layer 101 between two adjacent antenna components 103 is removed, that is, the material amount of the substrate layer 101 between two adjacent antenna components 103 is reduced, the heat transfer amount per unit time between any two adjacent antenna components 103 is limited, the thermal interference between adjacent antenna arrays 1031 is reduced or even eliminated, and further, the correction of the aberration between each antenna array 1031 is increased, making it more tend to or equal to the aberration that conforms to the preset, and improving the detection ability and accuracy of the phased array lidar.
[0067] In some embodiments, referring to Figure 1 、 Figure 2 and Figure 8 shown, the antenna component 103 may include an antenna array 1031 and a heating device 1032 for heating the antenna array 1031. The antenna array 1031 includes a plurality of optical antennas 1031a. A plurality of antenna components 103 are arranged in the cladding layer 102 and are arranged at intervals along the extension direction of the cladding layer 102, and a plurality of optical antennas 1031a are arranged at intervals along the extension direction of the cladding layer 102.
[0068] The heating device 1032 refers to a device that can convert electrical energy into heat energy and then provide heat to the antenna array 1031. For example, it may be a heating electrode, and the material of the heating electrode includes but is not limited to aluminum, copper, or titanium nitride.
[0069] Referring to Figure 5and Figure 7 As shown, in some embodiments, in the stacking direction, the size of the heat insulation structure 104 is equal to the thickness of the optical chip 100.
[0070] The extension dimension of the heat insulation structure 104 along the stacking direction being equal to the thickness of the optical chip 100 can enable the heat insulation structure 104 to completely block the heat transfer between two adjacent antenna components 103 in the stacking direction, and further improve the heat insulation effect while doing so.
[0071] Referring to Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, in some embodiments, the antenna component 103 includes an antenna array 1031 and a heating device 1032 for heating the antenna array 1031. The length direction of the heat insulation structure 104 is the same as the length direction of the optical antenna 1031a in the antenna array 1031, and the length of the heat insulation structure 104 is not less than the length of the optical antenna 1031a array; wherein, the length direction is perpendicular to the stacking direction.
[0072] The extension dimension of the heat insulation structure 104 along the length direction being equal to or greater than the extension dimension of the optical antenna in the antenna component 103 along the length direction can enable the heat insulation structure 104 to completely block the heat transfer between two adjacent antenna components 103 in the length direction.
[0073] In other embodiments, the extension dimension of the heat insulation structure 104 along the length direction can be less than the extension dimension of the antenna component 103 along the length direction.
[0074] On the one hand, it can ensure that the heat insulation structure 104 is spaced apart from the structure provided beside the antenna array 1031 in the optical chip 100 along the length direction, avoiding affecting the structure beside, for example, avoiding affecting the optical beam splitting structure 105 beside the antenna array 1031.
[0075] On the other hand, the extension dimension of the heat insulation structure 104 along the length direction being less than the extension dimension of the antenna component 103 along the length direction is beneficial to maintaining the structural strength of the substrate layer 101, providing necessary support for the coating layer 102, and ensuring the overall strength of the optical chip 100.
[0076] Referring to Figure 1 and Figure 2 As shown, in some embodiments, the heat insulation structure 104 includes a heat insulation groove. Preferably, in the stacking direction, the size of the heat insulation groove is equal to the thickness of the optical chip 100. Further preferably, the extension dimension of the heat insulation groove along the length direction is equal to or greater than the extension dimension of the optical antenna 1031a in the antenna component 103 along the length direction.
[0077] In some embodiments, the heat insulation structure 104 includes a plurality of heat insulation holes / heat insulation grooves arranged along the length direction of the optical antennas 1031a in the antenna array 1031.
[0078] On the one hand, the plurality of heat insulation holes / heat insulation grooves are arranged at intervals along the length direction, so that the heat insulation structure 104 can block the heat transfer between adjacent two antenna components 103 as comprehensively as possible in the length direction, further reduce or eliminate the thermal interference between adjacent antenna arrays 1031, and further increase the correction of the aberration between each antenna array 1031, making it more tend to or equal to the aberration that conforms to the preset.
[0079] On the other hand, the plurality of heat insulation holes / heat insulation grooves 104 are arranged at intervals along the length direction, and a part of the material of the substrate layer 101 is reserved between adjacent heat insulation structures 104, which is beneficial to maintaining the structural strength of the substrate layer 101, providing necessary support for the coating layer 102, and ensuring the overall strength of the optical chip 100.
[0080] Among them, the cross-section of the heat insulation hole / heat insulation groove can be of any shape, which can be a regular shape or an irregular shape. Exemplarily, the shape of the cross-section can be circular, oval, square, trapezoidal, triangular, L-shaped, U-shaped, C-shaped, S-shaped, etc.
[0081] Among them, the shape of the heat insulation hole / heat insulation groove can extend linearly along the overlapping direction. For example, it can be a straight column groove structure, and its axis direction is the same as the stacking direction. Or, the heat insulation hole / heat insulation groove can also be a regular groove structure similar to L-shaped, U-shaped, C-shaped, etc. Or, the heat insulation hole / heat insulation groove can also be a curved groove structure extending approximately along the overlapping direction. For example, it can be composed of a plurality of C-shaped grooves connected along the overlapping direction to form the heat insulation structure 104, it can be composed of a plurality of S-shaped grooves connected along the overlapping direction to form the heat insulation structure 104, or it can be composed of L-shaped and U-shaped groove structures alternating and connected along the overlapping direction to form the heat insulation structure 104.
[0082] Among them, the number, shape, and cross-sectional size of the heat insulation holes / heat insulation grooves can be specifically set according to the length dimension of the optical antenna 1031a. The shapes of each heat insulation hole / heat insulation groove can be the same or different, and the sizes of each heat insulation hole / heat insulation groove can be the same or different. The size includes the size along the overlapping direction, the size along the first direction, and the size along the length direction.
[0083] In some embodiments, the side part of the heat insulation structure 104 along the length direction is communicated with or spaced from the side part of the coating layer 102 along the length direction.
[0084] In this way, two setting methods of the side part of the heat insulation structure 104 along the length direction and the side part of the coating layer 102 along the length direction can be provided for selection according to specific requirements when manufacturing the optical chip 100.
[0085] Among them, the side part of the heat insulation structure 104 along the length direction is communicatively arranged with the side part of the cladding layer 102 along the length direction, which can increase the inlet for air to enter the heat insulation structure 104 and improve the heat insulation efficiency of the heat insulation structure 104.
[0086] Among them, the side part of the heat insulation structure 104 along the length direction is communicatively arranged at intervals with the side part of the cladding layer 102 along the length direction, and other structures in the optical chip 100 can be arranged between the side part of the heat insulation structure 104 along the length direction and the side part of the cladding layer 102 along the length direction, such as an optical beam splitting structure 105 and / or an optical coupling structure located beside the antenna array 1031.
[0087] Exemplarily, the optical chip 100 further includes an optical beam splitting structure 105, and the optical beam splitting structure 105 is arranged in the cladding layer 102. The optical beam splitting structure 105 and the multiple antenna components 103 are arranged in sequence along the length direction, and the optical beam splitting structure 105 and the heat insulation structure 104 are arranged in sequence along the length direction. The side part of the heat insulation structure 104 away from the optical beam splitting structure 105 is communicatively arranged with the side part of the cladding layer 102 away from the optical beam splitting structure 105 along the length direction, so as to space the heat insulation structure 104 from the optical beam splitting structure 105.
[0088] In some embodiments, the dimension of the heat insulation structure 104 along the spacing direction between two adjacent antenna components 103 is smaller than the spacing between two adjacent antenna components 103. A part of the layer material is reserved between the heat insulation structure 104 and the antenna component 103 to improve the stability of the antenna component 103 in the cladding layer 102.
[0089] In some embodiments, among any two adjacent antenna components 103, the heat insulation structure 104 is spaced from one antenna component 103 to form a first spacing, and the heat insulation structure 104 is spaced from the other antenna component 103 to form a second spacing. The first spacing and the second spacing are the same or different. Preferably, the first spacing and the second spacing are the same, so as to keep the stability of adjacent antenna components 103 in the cladding layer 102 consistent.
[0090] In some embodiments, the extension dimension of the heat insulation structure 104 along the stacking direction is between 150um and 750um; and / or, the extension dimension of the heat insulation structure 104 along the length direction is between 500um and 5cm; and / or, the dimension of the heat insulation structure 104 along the spacing direction between two adjacent antenna components 103 is between 10um and 2mm.
[0091] By adopting any combination of the above dimensions, while ensuring that the heat insulation structure 104 has a good heat insulation effect, the overall structural strength of the optical chip 100 can be ensured, and at the same time, interference between the heat insulation structure 104 and other structures can be prevented.
[0092] In some embodiments, the cladding layer 102 includes a first cladding layer 1021 and a second cladding layer 1022. The first cladding layer 1021, the second cladding layer 1022, and the substrate layer 101 are sequentially stacked. One of the antenna array 1031 and the heating device 1032 is disposed in the first cladding layer 1021, and the other of the antenna array 1031 and the heating device 1032 is disposed in the second cladding layer 1022. The heat insulation structure 104 extends in the stacking direction by a dimension greater than the sum of the layer thicknesses of the first cladding layer 1021 and the second cladding layer 1022 and less than or equal to the sum of the layer thicknesses of the first cladding layer 1021, the second cladding layer 1022, and the substrate layer 101.
[0093] In this way, two arrangement modes of the antenna array 1031 and the heating device 1032 are provided, and specific selection can be made according to the requirements of the optical chip 100. Of course, the cladding layer 102 can also be a single-layer structure. Among them, the material of the cladding layer includes, but is not limited to, silicon oxide or benzocyclobutene, and the materials of the first cladding layer 1021 and the second cladding layer 1022 can be the same or different.
[0094] It should be noted that in the cladding layer provided with the antenna array 1031, an optical coupling structure, an optical beam splitting structure 105, or a phase shifter array can also be provided. The layer formed by the optical coupling structure, the optical beam splitting structure 105, the phase shifter array, and the antenna array 1031 can be referred to as a semiconductor layer or a waveguide layer.
[0095] In some embodiments, the optical chip 100 includes two antenna components 103, namely a transmitting antenna component 103 and a receiving antenna component 103.
[0096] Among them, the transmitting antenna array 1031 is used to emit light to the object to be monitored, and the receiving antenna array 1031 is used to receive the light reflected by the object to be monitored, so as to obtain an image of the object to be monitored. By providing the heat insulation structure 104 between the transmitting antenna component 103 and the receiving antenna component 103, the heat insulation structure 104 blocks the heat transfer between the two antenna components 103, reduces or eliminates the thermal interference between the transmitting antenna array 1031 and the receiving antenna array 1031, increases the correction of the aberration between the transmitting antenna array 1031 and the receiving antenna array 1031, and makes it more tend to or equal to the aberration that conforms to the preset.
[0097] Refer to Figure 9 and Figure 10 As shown, in some embodiments, the projection of the antenna array 1031 in the stacking direction overlaps with the heating device 1032 or is located inside the boundary of the heating device 1032, so as to ensure that the heating device 1032 provides heat for the antenna array 1031 comprehensively and evenly, so as to improve the modulation effect of the thermo-optic modulation method.
[0098] Refer to Figure 9 and Figure 10As shown, in some embodiments, the antenna assembly 103 includes a heating device 1032 or a plurality of heating devices 1032 arranged at intervals.
[0099] When the antenna assembly 103 includes a plurality of heating devices 1032, the intervals between the plurality of heating devices 1032 and the plurality of optical antennas 1031a are in the same direction, and the heating devices 1032 and the optical antennas 1031a are arranged one-to-one along the overlapping direction to ensure that the heating devices 1032 provide heat to the optical antennas 1031a one-to-one, ensuring the comprehensiveness and uniformity of heat supply, and thus improving the modulation effect of the thermo-optic modulation method. When the antenna assembly 103 includes one heating device 1032, the heating device 1032 is correspondingly arranged with the antenna array 103.
[0100] In some embodiments, the antenna array includes a plurality of optical antennas, and the optical antennas are single-layer waveguide structures or double-layer waveguide structures. In some embodiments, the optical antenna includes any one of a silicon waveguide structure, a silicon nitride waveguide structure, a double-layer waveguide structure formed by a silicon waveguide structure and a silicon nitride waveguide structure, or a double-layer silicon nitride waveguide structure. In some embodiments, the substrate layer includes any one of an SOI substrate, a silicon substrate, a quartz substrate, and a glass substrate.
[0101] Another object of the embodiments of the present application is also to provide a lidar, and the lidar includes the optical chip 100 as above.
[0102] For the lidar provided by the embodiments of the present application, due to the application of the optical chip 100 provided by the present application, the material amount of the substrate layer 101 between two adjacent antenna assemblies 103 in the optical chip 100 is reduced, the heat transfer amount between any two adjacent antenna assemblies 103 per unit time is restricted, the thermal interference between adjacent antenna arrays 1031 is reduced or even eliminated, and further the correction of the aberration between each antenna array 1031 is increased, making it more tend to or equal to the aberration that conforms to the preset, and finally improving the detection ability and accuracy of the lidar.
[0103] Refer to Figure 11 As shown, another object of the embodiments of the present application is also to provide a manufacturing method of an optical chip 100, and the manufacturing method includes:
[0104] 1001. Provide a prefabricated layer group, and the prefabricated layer group includes a cladding layer and a substrate layer stacked; wherein, a plurality of antenna assemblies are prefabricated inside the cladding layer.
[0105] 1002. Cut the prefabricated layer group along the stacking direction to form a heat insulation structure, and make the extension dimension of the heat insulation structure in the stacking direction greater than the thickness from the top of the cladding layer to the substrate layer.
[0106] In some embodiments, making the extension dimension of the heat insulation structure in the stacking direction greater than the thickness from the top of the cladding layer to the substrate layer includes: making the dimension of the heat insulation structure in the stacking direction equal to the thickness of the optical chip.
[0107] In some embodiments, cutting the prefabricated layer group in the stacking direction to form the heat insulation structure includes: cutting the prefabricated layer group by any one of a deep silicon etching process, a plasma etching process, and a wet etching dicing process to form the heat insulation structure.
[0108] In the method for manufacturing the optical chip 100 provided by the embodiments of the present application, on the provided prefabricated layer group, the manufacturing method forms the heat insulation structure 104 only by cutting the prefabricated layer group from the side of the cladding layer 102 facing away from the substrate layer 101 towards the substrate layer 101, so that at least a part of the substrate layer 101 located between two adjacent antenna components 103 is cut, and the purpose of restricting the heat transfer amount between any two adjacent antenna components 103 per unit time can be achieved, reducing or even eliminating the thermal interference between adjacent antenna arrays 1031, and further increasing the correction of the aberration between the antenna arrays 1031.
[0109] The cutting operation included in the manufacturing method is relatively simple and easier to implement. The manufacturing method has a short processing cycle and low cost, and can reduce the production cycle and production cost of the optical chip 100.
[0110] The above are only the preferred embodiments of the present application and are not intended to limit the present application. Any modifications, equivalent replacements, and improvements made within the spirit and principle of the present application shall be included in the protection scope of the present application.
Claims
1. An optical chip, characterized in that, Comprising: A cladding layer and a substrate layer stacked, and a plurality of antenna components located inside the cladding layer; Wherein, a heat insulation structure is provided between at least a set of two adjacent antenna components, and the extension dimension of the heat insulation structure in the stacking direction is greater than the thickness from the top of the optical chip to the substrate layer, for blocking the heat conduction between the antenna components.
2. The optical chip according to claim 1, characterized in that: In the stacking direction, the dimension of the heat insulation structure is equal to the thickness of the optical chip.
3. The optical chip according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The antenna component includes an antenna array and a heating device for heating the antenna array; The length direction of the heat insulation structure is consistent with the length direction of the optical antennas in the antenna array, and the length of the heat insulation structure is not less than the length of the optical antenna array; Wherein, the length direction is perpendicular to the stacking direction.
4. The optical chip according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The heat insulation structure includes a heat insulation groove; Or, the heat insulation structure includes a plurality of heat insulation holes / heat insulation grooves arranged along the length direction of the optical antennas in the antenna component.
5. The optical chip according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The antenna component includes a plurality of optical antennas, and the optical antennas are single-layer waveguide structures or double-layer waveguide structures.
6. The optical chip according to claim 5, characterized in that: The optical antenna includes any one of a silicon waveguide structure, a silicon nitride waveguide structure, a double-layer waveguide structure formed by a silicon waveguide structure and a silicon nitride waveguide structure, or a double-layer silicon nitride waveguide structure.
7. The optical chip according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The substrate layer includes any one of an SOI substrate, a silicon substrate, a quartz substrate, and a glass substrate.
8. The optical chip according to claim 3, characterized in that: The heating device is located between the substrate layer and the antenna array.
9. The optical chip according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The optical chip includes two antenna components, and the two antenna components are respectively a transmitting antenna component and a receiving antenna component.
10. The optical chip according to claim 3, characterized in that: The antenna component includes one or more heating devices; wherein, When the antenna component includes one heating device, the heating device is correspondingly arranged with the antenna array; When the antenna component includes a plurality of heating devices, the plurality of heating devices are arranged in one-to-one correspondence with the plurality of optical antennas in the antenna array.
11. A lidar, characterized in that: The lidar includes the optical chip according to any one of claims 1-10.
12. A method for manufacturing an optical chip, characterized in that: Providing a prefabricated layer group, the prefabricated layer group including a cladding layer and a substrate layer stacked; wherein, a plurality of antenna components are prefabricated inside the cladding layer; Cutting the prefabricated layer group in the stacking direction to form a heat insulation structure, and making the extension dimension of the heat insulation structure in the stacking direction greater than the thickness from the top of the cladding layer to the substrate layer.
13. The method for manufacturing an optical chip according to claim 12, characterized in that: The extension dimension of the heat insulation structure in the stacking direction is greater than the thickness from the top of the coating layer to the substrate layer, including: Making the dimension of the heat insulation structure in the stacking direction equal to the thickness of the optical chip.
14. The method for manufacturing an optical chip according to claim 12, wherein: Cutting the prefabricated layer group in the stacking direction to form the heat insulation structure, including: Cutting the prefabricated layer group by any one of deep silicon etching process, plasma etching process, and wet etching dicing process to form the heat insulation structure.