The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 26, 2009
Filed:
May. 31, 2007
Robert Keith Montgomery, Easton, PA (US);
Vipulkumar Patel, Breinigsville, PA (US);
Robert Keith Montgomery, Easton, PA (US);
Vipulkumar Patel, Breinigsville, PA (US);
Lightwire Inc., Allentown, PA (US);
Abstract
The surface silicon layer (SOI layer) of an SOI-based optical modulator is processed to exhibit a corrugated surface along the direction of optical signal propagation. The required dielectric layer (i.e., relatively thin 'gate oxide') is formed over the corrugated structure in a manner that preserves the corrugated topology. A second silicon layer, required to form the modulator structure, is then formed over the gate oxide in a manner that follows the corrugated topology, where the overlapping portion of the corrugated SOI layer, gate oxide and second silicon layer defines the active region of the modulator. The utilization of the corrugated active region increases the area over which optical field intensity will overlap with the free carrier modulation region, improving the modulator's efficiency.