Valley photonic crystal waveguides fabricated with CMOS-compatible process

Abstract

Valley photonic crystal (VPhC) waveguides have attracted much attention because of their ability to enable robust light propagation against sharp bends. However, their demonstration using a CMOS-compatible process suitable for mass production has not yet been reported at the telecom wavelengths. Here, by tailoring the photomask to suppress the optical proximity effect, VPhC patterns comprising equilateral triangular holes were successfully fabricated using photolithography. We optically characterized the fabricated VPhC devices using microscopic optics with NIR imaging. For comparison, we also fabricated and characterized line-defect W1 PhC waveguides, in which the transmission intensities decreased at some regions within the operating bandwidth when sharp turns were introduced into the waveguide. In contrast, the developed VPhC waveguides can robustly propagate light around the C-band telecommunication wavelengths, even in the presence of sharp bends. Our results highlight the potential of VPhC waveguides as an interconnection technology in silicon topological photonic ICs.