Fabrication of a highly efficient optical modulator based on SOI

Silicon-on-insulator (SOI) technology offers tremendous potential for the integration of optoelectronic functions on a silicon substrate. In this research, we report on the fabrication process of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer on an SOI with 0.5μm wide waveguides in a Si layer of the order of ~1μm thick. These small dimensions increase the speed of these devices. However, with these small dimensions several fabrication difficulties such as alignment and thickness accuracy are present