Emulation of deep-ultraviolet lithography using rapid-prototyping, electron-beam lithography for silicon photonics design

We demonstrate a method to emulate the optical perfor-mance of silicon photonic devices fabricated using advanced deep-ultraviolet lithography (DUV) processes on a rapid-prototyping electron-beam lithography process. The method is enabled by a computational lithography predictive model generated by processing SEM image data of the DUV lithog-raphy process. We experimentally demonstrate the emula-tion method's accuracy on integrated silicon Bragg grating waveguides and grating-based, add-drop filter devices, two devices that are particularly susceptible to DUV lithogra-phy effects. The emulation method allows silicon photonic device and system designers to experimentally observe the effects of DUV lithography on device performance in a low-cost, rapid-prototyping, electron-beam lithography process to enable a first-time-right design flow.(c) 2023 Optica Publishing Group under the terms of the Optica Open Access Publishing Agreement

Automated summary

We present a method to simulate the optical performance of silicon photonic devices fabricated using advanced DUV processes. The method utilizes a computational lithography predictive model generated from SEM image data. Experimental results demonstrate the accuracy of the emulation method on silicon Bragg grating waveguides and grating-based add-drop filter devices, which are vulnerable to DUV lithography effects. This emulation method enables designers to observe the impact of DUV lithography on device performance in a low-cost, rapid-prototyping electron-beam lithography process.