Slot Waveguide for a Phase Shifter Based on Ferroelectric Materials

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This patent describes a new design for a phase shifter using a slot waveguide structure incorporating ferroelectric materials such as barium titanate (BaTiO3). The waveguide is formed as a vertical stack with a top silicon layer, a center ferroelectric layer, and a silicon-germanium substrate layer. This structure enables efficient phase shifting via a strong linear electro-optical effect (Pockels effect) at CMOS-compatible voltages, and is well-suited for integration into electronic-photonic integrated circuits (EPICs) using standard semiconductor manufacturing methods.

Use CasesContent extracted from patent full text and abstract with AI.

• Electro-optical phase shifters in photonic integrated circuits (PICs) for high-speed optical communications.
• Electro-optical modulators in on-chip optical transmitters and receivers.
• Signal processing units in data centers or telecommunication networks requiring integrated photonics.
• Optical sensors and measurement systems leveraging fast, energy-efficient modulation.
• Components in silicon photonics systems for data transfer and high-speed networking.
• Integrated optical switches or variable optical attenuators on silicon chips.

BenefitsContent extracted from patent full text and abstract with AI.

• Enables efficient and high-speed phase shifting using a strong linear electro-optical effect (Pockels effect).
• Achieves low optical power consumption and high modulation efficiency.
• Compatible with standard CMOS fabrication technologies, allowing cost-effective mass production.
• Provides good thermal and temporal stability compared to silicon-organic hybrid modulators.
• Facilitates monolithic integration of optical and electronic components, reducing device footprint and complexity.
• Eliminates the need for metal electrodes by using doped silicon layers as electrodes, improving integration and performance.
• Reduces energy loss and improves overlap between electrical and optical fields in the waveguide.

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Patent Abstract

The present invention relates to a slot waveguide (200) formed by a vertical material stack (202) comprising a top layer (212) with a first refractive index, a center layer (214) including a ferroelectric material and with a second refractive index, and a Si1-xGex pseudosubstrate layer (216) with 01-xGex pseudosubstrate layer (216). The second refractive index is lower than the first refractive index and lower than the third refractive index. The slot waveguide (200) can be included in a phase-shifter (300) including two vertically arranged electrodes (310, 320) configured for providing a vertical electrical field (Ev) extending between the top layer (212) and the bottom layer (222) of the slot waveguide (200) and for providing a complementary-metal-oxide-semiconductor compatible driver voltage. The phase-shifter (300) can be configured for providing a linear electro-optical effect inside the center layer (214) of the slot waveguide (200). This configuration allows integrating the phase-shifter (300) in the Front End Of Line of an electronic-photonic integrated circuit.