Presented at the 29th European Conference on Optical Communications (ECOC), Rimini, Italy September 2003

Hollow Waveguides for Integrated Optic Circuits

R M Jenkins (1), M E McNie (2), A F Blockley (3), N Price (4), J McQuillan (5)
(1) QinetiQ Ltd, St Andrews Road, Malvern, Worcestershire, WR14 3PS, UK, rmjenkins@qinetiq.com,
(2) mmcnie@qinetiq.com, (3) afblockley@qinetiq.com, (4) nprice@qinetiq.com, (5) jmcquillan@qinetiq.com

Abstract Hollow waveguides etched in the surface silicon substrates are proposed as the basis of integrated
optic circuits. Fundamental mode attenuation coefficients < 0.1 dB/cm and multimode interference (MMI) splitters
have been demonstrated.

Introduction Here, L, is the length of the hollow waveguide, , is

Previous work has proved the use of macroscopic
hollow waveguides as the basis of integrated optic
laser radar systems [1]. Recently the concept has
been extended to the microscale with the aim of
creating the optical equivalent of the surface mount
electronic printed circuit board [2]. This should allow
automated assembly and cost reduction in the
manufacture of telecomms modules.
By comparison with their solid core counterparts
hollow waveguides make the integration of discrete
components much simpler as there are no additional
optical interfaces to bridge. Hollow waveguides also
have the advantage that they exhibit broad
waveband, high power transmssion, characteritics in
conjunction with low polarisation dependent loss
(PDL). Interfacing to free-space and fibre-based
systems is also eased by less demanding alignment
tolerances.
the wavelength of the propagating radiation, and, w, is
the width of the square-section hollow core. p and q
are integer numbers defining the transverse nature of
the propagating mode across the x and y axes
respectively.  = (n – ik)2, is the complex dielectric
constant of the wall, where n is the refractive index
and k is the extinction coefficient. The mode
nomenclature EHpqy indicates that the mode is linearly
polarised along the y-axis.
power transmission (dB)
bare silicon
copper coated

With these benefits in mind we have used

microfabrication techniques, including deep reactive
ion etching (DRIE), to create hollow waveguides in
silicon substrates [2]. The same process may be used
to form slots for the location and alignment of discrete
components [1,2]. The etching process may also be
used to define a range of monolithic functions,
including MMI (multimode interference) and MEMS
(micro electro-mechanical system) devices [2]. A
prerequisite of utilizing hollow waveguides in the
manner described is that they should exhibit low
attenuation coefficients and low PDL in the
telecomms wavebands. This paper describes the
demonstration of hollow waveguides in silicon.
Theory
Consider the case of a hollow square cross-section
waveguide whose transverse axes lie in the x-y plane.
The hollow core is surrounded by a homogeneous
dielectric material of complex refractive index n – ik.
By modifying the analytical expression originally
derived by Marcatili [3], it is possible to write the
power attenuation for the linearly polarised EHpqy
mode in decibels as:
L 2  
T pq y dB   4.34  p 2 Re 
    1
w3  a copper
 
0
guide width (microns)
Figure 1. Theoretical predictions of power transmission
for a 1.0 cm long, square cross-section, hollow
waveguide as a function of guide width. The separate
plots indicate results for bare silicon walls and copper
coated walls, respectively.
Based on equation (1), figure 1 illustrates predictions
of fundamental mode (EH11) attenuation in dBs at
1550 nm as a function of guide width in microns for a
1.0 cm long hollow square section waveguide. The
calculations are for hollow waveguides having bare
silicon walls and where they have a copper coating.
At 1550 nm the complex refractive indices for silicon
and copper are 3.48 - i.0 and 0.606 - i.8.26,
respectively. The sub-unity value for copper is a
consequence of anomalous dispersion phenomena.
Gold and silver display similar characteristics. The
results indicate that for suitable combinations of guide
width and wall index, low values of attenuation
coefficient can be achieved. For example, for a 125.0
m wide bare silicon waveguide the predicted
fundamental mode attenuation coefficient is 0.21
dB/cm this
1  reduces 2to 0.03 dB/cm
  the wallhas 
when
  q Re    (1)
1/ 2   1 / 2  for 
    1
coating. 125m guides were selected
  
 Presented at the 29th European Conference on Optical Communications (ECOC), Rimini, Italy September 2003
compatibility with standard optical fibre cladding
dimensions.
Waveguide Fabrication
Waveguides for experimental evaluation were created
using photolithography and DRIE. The guides are
etched into a first wafer and a second (unpatterned)
wafer forms the fourth wall (lid) of the waveguide. A
CVD copper coating was used for rapid prototyping
and applied to both wafers prior to dicing and lidding.
Experimental Measurements and Results
A tuneable 1550 nm laser source in conjunction with a
lens system was used to make power transmission
measurements. These were undertaken for 50.0 m
and 125.0 m wide waveguides both with and without
copper coatings and for guide lengths of: 1.0 cm, 2.0
cm and 4.0 cm, respectively. The results are shown in
Figure 3 along with theoretical predictions. The
agreement between experiment and theory is very
good. The linear correlation of power transmission
with guide length, the inverse cube relationship with
guide width, and, the dependency on wall index, are
all borne out in practice.
The results for the 125.0m bare silicon guide and
the 50.0m and 125.0m wide copper coated guides
are very encouraging in yielding very low attenuation
coefficients. The 125.0m copper coated guide
provides a value of < 0.1 dB/cm. Separate
measurements of wavelength dependent polarisation
dependent loss for this guide yielded values of < 0.1
dB/cm across the 1480 nm to 1590 nm waveband.
The PDL should be improved by optimising the
fabrication process to reduce small guide
Figure 2. SEM image of hollow waveguides in a silicon
substrate forming an MMI splitter. Input waveguide (50.0 x
50.0m) and multi-mode region (50.0 x 250.0 m)
h ollo w w av e g u id e
M M I s p litte r in p u t fie ld
I
re g e n e rate d
2 -w a y s p lit
3 -w a y s p lit
I in p u t fie ld
F ig u re 4 . F ro m le ft-to -rig h t, s c h e m a tic , th e o re tic a l
p re d ic tio n s a n d e x p e rim e n ta l m e a s u re m e n ts o f 1 -to -N -w a y
m u ltim o d e in te rfe re n c e (M M I) s p litte rs b a s e d o n 5 0 .0  m
w id e in p u t a n d o u tp u t w a v e g u id e s .
 Presented at the 29th European Conference on Optical Communications (ECOC), Rimini, Italy September 2003

asymmetries. Hollow waveguide multimode

interference (MMI) splitters were also demonstrated.
These were based on 50.0 m square input and
output guides and a 250.0 m wide by 50.0 m high
rectangular section hollow multimode waveguide. The
results are shown figure 3. With a multimode guide
width, wM = 250.0 m, and an operational wavelength
of 1550 nm, input field regeneration occurs with a
multimode guide length of w M2/ = 40.32 mm, a two-
way power split is produced at half this length (20.16
mm) and a three-way power split at one third this
length (13.44). In all cases measured power
attenuation was dominated by the input and output
guide loss at ~0.5 dB/cm.

Conclusions
Low attenuation coefficients (<0.1 dB/cm) have been
proved for hollow waveguides in silicon utilizing deep
reactive ion etching techniques. The waveguides
have also been used to demonstrate multimode
interference (MMI) splitters. The work has provided
the fundamental building blocks of a new integrated
optic circuit technology that should enable low cost,
automated manufacture of telecomms modules
containing both discrete and monolithic components.

References
1 R M Jenkins et al, Jn Mod. Opt. 45 (1998), 1613.
2 R M Jenkins & M E McNie, IPA GB2003/000331.
3 E A J Marcatili, Bell Syst. Tech. J. 48 (1969) 2103.
power transmission (dB)

1 2 5 .0  m w id e

5 0 .0  m w id e

b a re s ilic o n

c o p p e r c o a te d

g u id e le n g th ( m m )
F ig u r e 3 . E x p e r im e n ta l m e a s u r e m e n ts a n d th e o r e tic a l
p r e d ic tio n s o f p o w e r tr a n s m is s io n a s a fu n c tio n o f g u id e
le n g th fo r h o llo w s ilic o n w a v e g u id e s 5 0 .0  m a n d 1 2 5 .0  m
w id e b o th w ith a n d w ith o u t a c o p p e r c o a tin g .