High-Performance, High-Index-Contrast Chalcogenide Glass Photonics on Silicon and Unconventional Non-planar Substrates

This paper reports a versatile, roll-to-roll and backend compatible technique for the fabrication of high-index-contrast photonic structures on both silicon and plastic substrates. The fabrication technique combines low-temperature chalcogenide glass film deposition and resist-free single-step thermal nanoimprint to process low-loss (1.6 dB/cm), sub-micron single-mode waveguides with a smooth surface finish using simple contact photolithography. Using this approach, the first chalcogenide glass micro-ring resonators are fabricated by thermal nanoimprint. The devices exhibit an ultra-high quality-factor of 400,000 near 1550 nm wavelength, which represents the highest value reported in chalcogenide glass micro-ring resonators. Furthermore, sub-micron nanoimprint of chalcogenide glass films on non-planar plastic substrates is demonstrated, which establishes the method as a facile route for monolithic fabrication of high-index-contrast devices on a wide array of unconventional substrates.