Demonstration of submicron square-like silicon waveguide using optimized LOCOS process

We demonstrate the design, fabrication and experimental characterization of a submicron-scale silicon waveguide that is fabricated by local oxidation of silicon. The use of local oxidation process allows defining the waveguide geometry and obtaining smooth sidewalls. The process can be tuned to precisely control the shape and the dimensions of the waveguide. The fabricated waveguides are measured using near field scanning optical microscope at 1550 nm wavelength. These measurements show mode width of 0.4 mu m and effective refractive index of 2.54. Finally, we demonstrate the low loss characteristics of our waveguide by imaging the light scattering using an infrared camera. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America