Comparative Study of Nano-Slot Silicon Waveguides Covered by Dye Doped and Undoped Polymer Cladding

Abstract

Nonlinear optical dyes doped in optical polymer matrices are widely used for electro-optical devices. Linear optical properties change with dye concentration, which leads to a change in modal properties, especially in nano-structured integrated waveguides such as silicon slot-waveguides. Here, we investigate the influence of a nonlinear optical dye on the performance of a silicon-organic hybrid slot-waveguide. A simulation study of the modal and optical confinement properties is carried out and dependence of the structural parameters of the slot-waveguide and the organic cladding material is taken into account. As cladding material, a guest-host polymer system is employed comprising the nonlinear optical dye Disperse Red 1 (DR1) doped in a poly[methyl methacrylate] (PMMA) matrix. The refractive indices of doped and undoped PMMA were deduced from ellipsometric data. We present a guideline for an optimized slot-waveguide design for the fabrication in silicon-on-insulator technology giving rise to scalable, high-performance integrated electro-optical modulators.