Die level release of silicon photonic MEMS

MEMS for Photonic Integrated Circuits

“…PIC platforms (silicon photonics in particular), and MEMS have grown rapidly thanks to the development of processes for the microelectronics industry. As a result, dedicated photonics and MEMS platform have a lot in common, and a photonic MEMS platform is only a step away [110], [111]. The key components for reprogrammable photonic MEMS circuits have already been reported, and large scale switch networks have been achieved with wafer-scale processes [71], [89].…”

MEMS-Enabled Silicon Photonic Integrated Devices and Circuits

“…Devices were designed and fabricated in a simplified version of IMEC's iSiPP50G standard silicon photonics technology platform [2], [26], where several process modules (such as for modulators, detectors and metal routing) have been omitted to speed up process development while maintaining full passives functionality as well as topology and surface finish which are representative for the full process. The release process was developed and performed at the Center of MicroNanoTechnology (CMi) at EPFL [27]. A graphic representation of the release process is shown in Fig.…”

“…Fig. 14 illustrates the powerful approach of monolithic integration of Silicon Photonic MEMS in a standard platform [27]: optimized components such as highspeed detectors, enhanced grating-couplers, multi-layer electrical routing and standardized bond pad interfaces can be monolithically integrated with Silicon Photonic MEMS devices, such as electrostatically actuated waveguides or freestanding ring-or disk-resonator devices.…”

“…Representative illustration of a Silicon Photonics integrated circuit (2 mm × 1.2 mm), including full platform components such as modulators, detectors, photonic and electrical routing, with Silicon Photonic MEMS components[27].…”

Silicon Photonic MEMS: Exploiting Mechanics at the Nanoscale to Enhance Photonic Integrated Circuits

“…In order to keep and leverage the existing optimized optical functions available in advanced Silicon Photonic foundry platforms, such as enhanced grating couplers, photodetectors, electrical interconnect wiring, modulators, etc., we pursue in the scope of the MORPHIC project [7] a 'zero photonics process change' approach, enabling MEMS actuated structures by post-processing steps only. We demonstrate the MEMS release process consisting of a window opening and sacrificial layer etch [8] on IMEC's ISIPP50G platform [9], with all process steps 200 mm wafer compatible (Fig. 1a).…”