title: Submicron optical waveguides and microring resonators fabricated by selective oxidation of tantalum.
abstract: Submicron tantalum pentoxide ridge and channel optical waveguides and microring resonators are demonstrated on silicon substrates by selective oxidation of the refractory metal, tantalum. The novel method eliminates the surface roughness problem normally introduced during dry etching of waveguide sidewalls and also simplifies fabrication of directional couplers. It is shown that the measured propagation loss is independent of the waveguide structure and thereby limited by the material loss of tantalum pentoxide in waveguides core regions. The achieved microring resonators have cross-sectional dimensions of ~600 nm × ~500 nm, diameters as small as 80 µm with a quality, Q, factor of 4.5 × 10(4), and a finesse of 120.
authors.affiliation: CREOL, The College of Optics and Photonics, University of Central Florida, USA. pr@partow-tech.com
authors.forename: Payam
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rabiei
authors.forename: Jichi
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Saeed
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.forename: Jeff
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chiles
authors.forename: Sasan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fathpour
mesh_terms: D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D008904:Miniaturization; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010087:Oxides / Q000737:chemistry*; D012031:Refractometry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D020349:Surface Plasmon Resonance / Q000295:instrumentation*; D013635:Tantalum / Q000737:chemistry*; D014159:Transducers
chemical_list: D010087:Oxides; D013635:Tantalum; C078151:tantalum oxide