Globalfoundries U.S. Inc.

Takako Hirokawa

Yusheng Bian

Keith Donegan

Thomas Houghton

Karen A Nummy

Ryan W Sporer

Kevin K Dezfulian

Steven M Shank

Kenneth John Giewont

Norman Whitelaw Robson

Arpan Dasgupta

Vaishnavi Karra

Zahidur Chowdhury

Carrie Yurkon

Structures including a cavity adjacent to an edge coupler and methods of forming such structures. The structure comprises a semiconductor substrate including a cavity with a sidewall, a dielectric layer on the semiconductor substrate, and an edge coupler on the dielectric layer. The structure further comprises a fill region including a plurality of fill features adjacent to the edge coupler. The fill region includes a reference marker at least partially surrounded by the plurality of fill features, and the reference marker has a perimeter that surrounds a surface area of the dielectric layer, and the surface area overlaps with a portion of the sidewall of the cavity.

Reference markers adjacent to a cavity in a photonics chip

IC chips for photonics applications are disclosed. An example IC chip includes a substrate, an optical component above the substrate, and a first connection level above the substrate. The first connection level includes the optical component and a first cladding structure, in which the optical component is covered by the first cladding structure. The IC chip also includes a second connection level on the first connection level. The second connection level includes a first interlayer dielectric material. The IC chip further includes a second cladding structure directly above the optical component. The second cladding structure has at least a section within the second connection level. The second cladding structure is on the first cladding structure. The second cladding structure is laterally adjacent to and in direct contact with the first interlayer dielectric material. The second cladding structure includes a material different from the first interlayer dielectric material.

Cladding structure in the back end of line of photonics chips

Structures including a calibration marker adjacent to a photonic structure and methods of forming such structures. The structure comprises a semiconductor substrate, a photonic structure, and a back-end-of-line stack over the semiconductor substrate. The back-end-of-line stack includes a plurality of fill features, an exclusion area surrounded by the plurality of fill features, and a calibration marker in the exclusion area. The calibration marker is disposed adjacent to the photonic structure, and the calibration marker includes a feature having a predetermined dimension.

Calibration markers for a photonics chip

Structures including an edge coupler and methods of forming such structures. The structure comprises an edge coupler including a first portion and a second portion between the first portion and a semiconductor substrate, a first coupling-assistance feature adjacent to the first portion of the edge coupler, and a second coupling-assistance feature adjacent to the first portion of the edge coupler. The first portion of the edge coupler is positioned in a lateral direction between the first coupling-assistance feature and the second coupling-assistance feature.

Edge couplers with coupling-assisting features

Structures including a light source and an edge coupler, and methods of forming and using such structures. The structure comprises a semiconductor substrate and a back-end-of-line stack on the semiconductor substrate. The back-end-of-line stack includes a first dielectric layer, a first plurality of metal features in the first dielectric layer, a second dielectric layer on the first dielectric layer, and a second plurality of metal features in the second dielectric layer. The second plurality of metal features have a non-overlapping relationship with the first plurality of metal features. The structure further comprises an edge coupler adjacent to the first plurality of metal features and the second plurality of metal features.

Photonics chip structures including a light source and an edge coupler

Structures including an edge coupler and methods of fabricating a structure including an edge coupler. The structure includes an edge coupler having a longitudinal axis, a first ring resonator, and a second ring resonator. The first ring resonator has a first center point that is spaced from the longitudinal axis of the edge coupler by a first perpendicular distance. The second ring resonator has a second center point that is spaced from the longitudinal axis of the edge coupler by a second perpendicular distance.

Edge couplers integrated with dual ring resonators

Structures including an optical component, such as an edge coupler, and methods of fabricating a structure that includes an optical component, such as an edge coupler. The structure includes a substrate having a sealed cavity, an optical component, and a dielectric layer between the optical component and the sealed cavity. The optical component is positioned vertically over the substrate and the dielectric layer, and the optical component overlaps with the sealed cavity in the substrate.

Growing community of inventors

Ballston Lake, NY, United States of America

Takako Hirokawa