Photonics Chip Cavities with Non-Right-Angle Corners
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional photonics chip cavities with right-angle internal corners suffer from concentrated internal stresses and strains, leading to potential damage and catastrophic failure through cracking and delamination.
Innovation Solution
A cavity structure with non-right-angle internal corners is created by alternating sidewalls in the back-end-of-line stack and substrate, alleviating stress concentrations and promoting stable integration of a laser source.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a conventional rectangular laser cavity with right-angle internal corners is used, then the manufacturing process is simple, but internal stresses and strains are concentrated at the corners leading to cracking and delamination
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies asymmetry by changing the cavity geometry from a conventional rectangular shape with right-angle corners to a shape with non-right-angle corners. This asymmetric modification redistributes the internal stress and strain fields, preventing concentration at specific corner points and thereby reducing the risk of cracking and delamination while maintaining manufacturing feasibility through standard semiconductor fabrication processes
2Device complexity
If right-angle internal corners are used in the cavity, then the structural design is conventional and simple, but stress concentrations lead to catastrophic failure
Solution Approach 1:
The cavity structure employs asymmetric corner design where the internal corners are intentionally formed with non-right angles. This asymmetric geometry modifies the stress distribution pattern within the cavity walls, eliminating the stress concentration points that would otherwise occur at right-angle corners, thereby enhancing the overall structural strength and resistance to catastrophic failure
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements curvature by forming the cavity corners with rounded or chamfered edges rather than sharp right angles. This curved transition at the corners creates a more gradual stress distribution, preventing the abrupt stress concentration that occurs at sharp corners and thereby improving the cavity's resistance to cracking and delamination
Data Source
AI summary
Structures for a cavity included in a photonics chip and methods of fabricating a structure for a cavity included in a photonics chip. The structure includes a substrate, a back-end-of-line stack having interlayer dielectric layers on the substrate, and a cavity penetrating through the back-end-of-line stack and into the substrate. The cavity includes first sidewalls and second sidewalls, and the second sidewalls have an alternating arrangement with the first sidewalls to define non-right-angle corners.