Ghaith Makey

In-chip microstructures and photonic devices fabricated by nonlinear laser lithography deep inside silicon

Silicon is an excellent material for microelectronics and integrated photonics1–3, with untapped potential for mid-infrared optics4. Despite broad recognition of the importance of the third dimension5,6, current lithography methods do not allow the fabrication of photonic devices and functional microelements directly inside silicon chips. Even relatively simple curved geometries cannot be realized with techniques like reactive ion etching. Embedded optical elements7, electronic devices and better electronic–photonic integration are lacking8. Here, we demonstrate laser-based fabrication of complex 3D structures deep inside silicon using 1-µm-sized dots and rod-like structures of adjustable length as basic building blocks. The laser-modified Si has an optical index different to that in unmodified parts, enabling the creation of numerous photonic devices. Optionally, these parts can be chemically etched to produce desired 3D shapes. We exemplify a plethora of subsurface—that is, ‘in-chip’—microstructures for microfluidic cooling of chips, vias, micro-electro-mechanical systems, photovoltaic applications and photonic devices that match or surpass corresponding state-of-the-art device performances.By exploiting dynamics arising from nonlinear laser–material interactions, functional microelements and arbitrarily complex 3D architectures deep inside silicon are fabricated with 1 μm resolution, without damaging the silicon above or below.

Rich complex behaviour of self-assembled nanoparticles far from equilibrium

A profoundly fundamental question at the interface between physics and biology remains open: what are the minimum requirements for emergence of complex behaviour from nonliving systems? Here, we address this question and report complex behaviour of tens to thousands of colloidal nanoparticles in a system designed to be as plain as possible: the system is driven far from equilibrium by ultrafast laser pulses that create spatiotemporal temperature gradients, inducing Marangoni flow that drags particles towards aggregation; strong Brownian motion, used as source of fluctuations, opposes aggregation. Nonlinear feedback mechanisms naturally arise between flow, aggregate and Brownian motion, allowing fast external control with minimal intervention. Consequently, complex behaviour, analogous to those seen in living organisms, emerges, whereby aggregates can self-sustain, self-regulate, self-replicate, self-heal and can be transferred from one location to another, all within seconds. Aggregates can comprise only one pattern or bifurcated patterns can coexist, compete, endure or perish.

Buried waveguides written deep inside silicon

Silicon waveguides are widely used as optical interconnects and they are particularly important for Si-photonics. Si-based devices, along with other optical elements, are entirely fabricated on the top surface of Si wafers. However, further integration of photonic and electronic devices in the same chip requires a new approach. One alternative is to utilize the bulk of the wafer for fabricating photonic elements. Recently, we reported a direct-laser-writing method that exploits nonlinear interactions and can generate subsurface modifications inside silicon without damaging the surface [1]. Using this method, we fabricated several functional optical elements including gratings [1], lenses [2], and holograms [3]. In this work, we demonstrate optical waveguides entirely embedded in Si.

Two-photon excitation of quantum dots in 3D via stacked fresnal hologram algorithm

Quantum dots are engineered to have nanometers dimensions. The ability to specify the diameter and the material of the quantum dots allow us tune the absorption and emission properties. This results in extensive capabilities for imaging [1] and display [2] applications. Further, with two photon absorption and high peak power laser they can be excited at any point in 3D locally [3].

Optical waveguides written deep inside silicon by femtosecond laser

Photonic devices that can guide, transfer or modulate light are highly desired in electronics and integrated silicon photonics. Through the nonlinear processes taking place during ultrafast laser-material interaction, laser light can impart permanent refractive index change in the bulk of materials, and thus enables the fabrication of different optical elements inside the material. However, due to strong multi-photon absorption of Si resulting delocalization of the light by free carriers induced plasma defocusing, the subsurface Si modification with femtosecond laser was not realized so far [1, 2]. Here, we demonstrate optical waveguides written deep inside silicon with a 1.5-μm high repetition rate femtosecond laser. Due to pulse-to-pulse heat accumulation for high repetition rate laser, additional thermal lensing prevents delocalization of the light around focal point, allowing the modification. The laser with 2-μJ pulse energy, 350-fs pulse width, operating at 250 kHz focused in Si produces permanent modifications. The position of the focal point inside of the sample is accurately controlled with pumpprobe imaging during processing. Optical waveguides of ∼20-μm diameter, and up to 5.5-mm elongation are fabricated by translating the beam focal position along the optical axis. The waveguides are characterized with a 1.5-μm continuous-wave laser, through optical shadow-graphy (Fig. 1 a-b, e) and direct light coupling (Fig.1 c-d, f). The measured refractive index change obtained by quantitative shadow-graphy is ∼6×10−4. The numerical aperture of the waveguide measured from decoupled light is 0.05.

Holograms Deep Inside Silicon

Through the Nonlinear Laser Lithography method, we demonstrate the first computer generated holograms fabricated deep inside Silicon. Fourier and Fresnel holograms are fabricated buried inside Si wafers, and a generation algorithm is developed for hologram fabrication.