Laser processing of amorphous silicon for photonic applications

The topic of the research that is presented in this thesis is the development of a laser-based method for the crystallization of amorphous silicon (a-Si) films, deposited on various planar substrates for the fabrication of photonic structures. The emphasis is on lithium niobate which has many useful properties for photonic applications. This research stems from experimental evidence suggesting that it is possible to produce large Si crystallites by irradiating a-Si with continuous wave laser beams at visible wavelengths. This method has been particularly successful in semiconductor core optical fibres.Here this laser-crystallization method is being extended to planar geometries staring with glass substrates and extending to crystalline lithium niobate. The aim is to produce hybrid optoelectronic devices that will benefit from the properties of the constituents (Si and lithium niobate). These devices will target photonic applications in the area of optical telecommunications and sensing