Abstract

Rare-earth-doped polysiloxane spin-on-glasses (SOG) are being investigated as new optical materials for forming active channel waveguides directly on semiconductor wafers (GaAs). Use of a SOG matrix for rare earth ions, such as Nd⁺³ and Er³⁺, permits direct integration of the active waveguide and a laser-diode pump source on the same semiconductor wafer. Inclusion of the polarizable rare-earth ions increases the refractive index of the doped SOG relative to undoped SOG; this permits one to use undoped SOG as a cladding layer between the doped SOG and the underlying III—V substrate. Materials preparation and optical properties, fabrication techniques, and the development of SOG channel waveguides will be presented.

© 1992 Optical Society of America