Claims
- 1. A waveguide, comprising:
a waveguide core made of a first host material having a plurality of nano-pores, wherein the nano-pores include a sacrificial material; and a cladding layer made of a second host material having a plurality of nano air-gaps, wherein the cladding layer is disposed around the waveguide core.
- 2. The waveguide of claim 1, wherein the first host material and the second host material comprise the same host material.
- 3. The waveguide of claim 1, wherein the first host material and the second host material comprise different host materials.
- 4. The waveguide of claim 1, wherein the nano-pores include a first amount of the sacrificial material so that the cladding layer has a lower refractive index than the waveguide core.
- 5. The waveguide of claim 1, wherein the nano air-gaps include a second amount of the sacrificial material so that the cladding layer has a lower refractive index than the waveguide core.
- 6. The waveguide of claim 1, wherein the first host material and the second host material are selected form methylsilsesquixane and polyimides.
- 7. The waveguide of claim 1, wherein the first host material and the second host material includes methylsilsesquixane.
- 8. The waveguide of claim 1, wherein the sacrificial material is chosen from trimethoxysilye norborene, polynorbornenes, polyoxymethylene, polycarbonates, polyethers, and polyesters.
- 9. The waveguide of claim 1, wherein the nano air-gaps have a diameter of about 1 to about 15 nanometers.
- 10. The waveguide of claim 1, further comprising at least one coupler element.
- 11. The waveguide of claim 1, wherein the sacrificial material includes mesitylene.
- 12. A device, comprising:
a substrate; and a waveguide disposed on the substrate, wherein the waveguide includes:
a waveguide core made of a material having a plurality of nano-pores, wherein the nano-pores include a sacrificial material; and a cladding layer made of the material having a plurality of nano air-gaps.
- 13. The device of claim 12, wherein the substrate is selected from a complementary metal oxide semiconductor wafer, compound semiconductor wafer, a fully processed semiconductor substrate, a partially processed semiconductor substrate, a dielectric substrate, a printed wiring board, a multi-chip module, fused silica, and a backplane substrate.
- 14. A method for fabricating a waveguide comprising:
disposing a first material layer onto a substrate, wherein the first material layer includes a plurality of nano-pores, wherein the nano-pores include a sacrificial material; removing a portion of the sacrificial material from the nano-pores in a first region of the first material layer, wherein the first region defines a first cladding layer; disposing a second material layer onto the first cladding layer, wherein the first material layer and the second material layer are the same material; removing a portion of the sacrificial material from the nano-pores in a second region of the second material layer to define a waveguide core; disposing a third material layer onto the first cladding layer and the waveguide core, wherein the first material layer, the second material layer, and the third material layer are the same material; and removing a portion of the sacrificial material from the nano-pores in a third region of the third material layer, wherein the first region defines a second cladding layer, and wherein the first and second cladding layers surround the waveguide core forming a cladding layer.
- 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the first material layer, the second material layer, and the third material layer are selected form methylsilsesquixane and polyimides.
- 16. The method of claim 14, wherein the cladding layer has a lower refractive index than the waveguide core.
- 17. A method for fabricating a waveguide comprising:
disposing a first material layer onto a substrate, wherein the first material layer includes a plurality of nano-pores, wherein the nano-pores include a sacrificial material; disposing a second material layer onto a portion of the first material layer forming a waveguide core, wherein the first material layer and the second material layer are composed of different weight percents of nano-pores; disposing a third material layer onto the first material layer and the second material layer, wherein the first material layer and the third material layer are the same material; and removing a portion of the sacrificial material from the nano-pores in a first region of the first material layer and in a second region of the third material layer thereby forming a cladding layer surrounding the waveguide core.
- 18. The method of claim 17, further including:
forming at least one coupler element adjacent the waveguide core.
- 19. The method of claim 17, wherein the sacrificial material is chosen from mesitylene, trimethoxysilye norborene, polynorbornenes, polyoxymethylene, polycarbonates, polyethers, and polyesters.
- 20. The method of claim 17, wherein the first material layer and the third material layer include methylsilsesquixane and the sacrificial material includes trimethoxysilye norborene.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application claims priority to co-pending U.S. provisional applications entitled, “Monolithic Chip-level Optical Waveguides Formed From Low-k Nano Air-gap Inter-layer Dielectric (ILD) Materials and Methods,” having serial No. 60/290,118, filed May 10, 2001, and “Monolithic Chip-level Optical Waveguides Formed From Low-k Nano Air-gap Inter-layer Dielectric (ILD) Materials and Methods,” having serial No. 60/363,057, filed Mar. 11, 2002, both of which are entirely incorporated herein by reference.
STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT
[0002] The U.S. government may have a paid-up license in this invention and the right in limited circumstances to require the patent owner to license others on reasonable terms as provided for by the terms of MDA 972-99-1-0002 awarded by the DARPA of the U.S. Government.
Provisional Applications (2)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
|
60290118 |
May 2001 |
US |
|
60363057 |
Mar 2002 |
US |