Fabrication and direct transmission measurement of high-aspect-ratio two-dimensional silicon-based photonic crystal chips

We report the fabrication and characterization of two-dimensional silicon-based photonic crystal (PhC) structures realized by a combination of electron-beam lithography and dry-etching techniques. PhCs of various lattices with very high aspect ratios up to 20 have been achieved, and PhC chips were prepared by standard semiconductor technologies, including thinning and cleaving. The chips consisting of high-aspect-ratio air rods or dielectric rods permit a direct transmission measurement, and they were observed to demonstrate pronounced photonic bandgap effects. Several photonic bandgap behaviors were identified by comparing transmission with reflection and experimental results with numerical results, and by considering detecting beam property.