Correlation of Scattering Loss, Sidewall Roughness and Waveguide Width in Silicon-on-Insulator (SOI) Ridge Waveguides

We use star couplers to measure the relative scattering losses of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) ridge waveguides of various widths over the range of 1.75 to 0.2 mu m in a single measurement. The scattering loss data obtained for waveguides fabricated by different photolithography and e-beam base processes correlate well with the measured root-mean-square roughness of the waveguide sidewalls obtained using SEM image analysis, and are in qualitative agreement with the prediction of simple scattering loss theory.