High-contrast, all-silicon waveguiding platform for ultra-broadband mid-infrared photonics

Suspended silicon-membrane ridge waveguides are fabricated and characterized on a single-material photonic device platform. By using direct bonding, a thin layer of silicon is fused to a bulk silicon substrate, which is patterned with narrow trenches. Waveguides are etched on the resulting suspended membranes and are characterized at mid- and near-infrared wavelengths. Transverse magnetic-mode propagation losses of 2.8 ± 0.5 and 5.6 ± 0.3 dB/cm at 3.39 and 1.53 μm wavelengths are measured, respectively. This all-silicon optical platform is capable of continuous low-loss waveguiding from wavelengths of 1.2–8.5 μm, enabling numerous applications in frequency conversion and spectral analysis.