Mount-Learn Wu

Enhanced light trapping based on guided mode resonance effect for thin-film silicon solar cells with two filling-factor gratings

An approach of enhanced light-trapping in a thin-film silicon solar cell by adding a two-filling-factor asymmetric binary grating on it is proposed for the wavelength of near-infrared. Such a grating-on-thin-film structure forms a guided-mode resonance notch filter to couple energy diffracted from an incident wave to a leakage mode of the guided layer in the solar cell. The resonance wave coupled between two-filling-factor gratings would laterally extend the optical power and induce multiple bounces within the active layer. The resonance effect traps light in the cell enhancing its absorption probability. A dynamic light-trapping behaviour in solar cells is observed. A photon dwelling time is proposed for the first time to quantify the light-trapping effect. Moreover, the light absorption probability is also quantified. As compared the grating-on-thin-film structure with the one of planar silicon thin film, simulation results reveal that it is 3-fold enhancement in the light absorption within a spectral range of 920-1040 nm. Moreover, such an enhancement can be maintained even the incident angle of near-IR broadband light wave varies up to +/-40 degrees.

Design and analysis of completely adiabatic tapered waveguides by conformal mapping

In this study, we propose a novel equivalent-waveguide concept to design the completely adiabatic tapered waveguides. The optimal combination of taper shape and refractive-index distribution in such ideal structures is obtained by applying a series of conformal mappings to transform a single-mode straight waveguide into an equivalent tapered configuration. In an ideal taper the curved phase-front effect verifies the constant V-number concept is insufficient for designing a tapered waveguide. Also, the beam propagation method combined with the conformal mapping method is used to analyze the characteristics of light propagation in ideal structures. Simulation results predict that in the ideal taper a perfect mode-size conversion can be achieved adiabatically.

Bulk-micromachined optical filter based on guided-mode resonance in silicon-nitride membrane

In this paper, a single-layer guided-mode resonance (GMR) filter based on a free-standing silicon-nitride membrane suspended on a silicon substrate is achieved by using bulk-micromachining technology. Both of grating and waveguide structures without a lower-cladding layer, i.e., substrate, are fabricated simultaneously on a silicon-nitride membrane. The device can be used as a transmission bandstop filter with the advantages of simple structure, high efficiency, and feasibility to integrate with other optoelectronic elements into a microsystem chip. The design consideration, fabrication procedures, and measured spectral response are shown in this paper. Moreover, by stacking two proposed devices, /spl Delta//spl lambda/ of the stopband at a transmission below 10% is 5.06 nm.

Compact and passive-alignment 4-channel x 2.5-Gbps optical interconnect modules based on silicon optical benches with 45 degrees micro-reflectors.

Compact and passive-alignment 4-channel x 2.5-Gbps optical interconnect modules are developed based on the silicon optical benches (SiOBs) of 5 x 5 mm2. A silicon-based 45 degrees micro-reflector and V-groove arrays are fabricated on the SiOB using anisotropic wet etching. Moreover, high-frequency transmission lines of 4 channel x 2.5 Gbps, and bonding pads with Au/Sn eutectic solder are also deposited on the SiOB. The vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) array and photo-detector (PD) array are flip-chip assembled on the intended positions. The multi-mode fiber (MMF) ribbons are passively aligned and mounted onto the V-groove arrays. Without the assistance of additional optics, the coupling efficiencies of VCSEL-to-MMF in the transmitting part and MMF-to-PD in the receiving part can be as high as -5.65 and -1.98 dB, respectively, under an optical path of 180 microm. The 1-dB coupling tolerance of greater than +/- 20 microm is achieved for both transmitting and receiving parts. Eye patterns of both parts are demonstrated using 15-bit PRBS at 2.5 Gbps.

A study of large area die bonding materials and their corresponding mechanical and thermal properties

Abstract We tested the ability of Au/Sn eutectic, silver paste, and solder paste to bond to a large area as well as the bonding of a high power LED die to a highly conductive submount. The samples ran through several tests including ultrasound image, shear force, and thermal resistance measurement. Finite element analysis (FEA) models were built for comparison and analysis. Au/Sn bonding shows the best thermal and mechanical properties. Silver paste shows lower contact thermal resistance compared with solder paste. Although the thickness of the silver paste bonding layer is greater than the solder paste bonding layer, the average total thermal resistance is noticeably lower than the solder paste bonded samples.

Optical Simulation and Fabrication of Nitride-Based LEDs With the Inverted Pyramid Sidewalls

In this study, the numerical and experimental demonstrations for the enhancement of light-extraction efficiency in nitride-based LEDs with randomly inverted pyramid sidewalls (IPSs) by chemical etching of the chip edge are presented. With 20 mA injection current, it was found that forward voltages were 3.69 and 3.75 V while output powers were 7.07 and 8.95 mW for the conventional LED and inverted pyramid sidewall LED, respectively. The larger LED output power is attributed to the increased light-extraction efficiency by IPSs.

Realization of free-space optical pickup head with stacked Si-based phase elements

We have developed a novel stacked silicon-based microoptical system, which is optical-on-axis and transmissible in both visible and infrared ranges. By using the new microoptical system techniques, we fabricated a miniaturized optical pickup head module. This optical pickup head consisted of a 650-nm laser diode, a 45/spl deg/ silicon reflector, a grating, a holographic optical element, and some aspherical Fresnel lenses. These optical phase elements fabricated on a SiN/sub x/ membrane were suspended on Si chips. Each element was then stacked by chip bonding. We could obtain a circular focusing spot on the optical disc as small as 3.1 /spl mu/m.

Monolithic integration of elliptic-symmetry diffractive optical element on silicon-based 45° micro-reflector

A monolithically integrated micro-optical element consisting of a diffractive optical element (DOE) and a silicon-based 45 degrees micro-reflector is experimentally demonstrated to facilitate the optical alignment of non-coplanar fiber-to-fiber coupling. The slanted 45 degrees reflector with a depth of 216 microm is fabricated on a (100) silicon wafer by anisotropic wet etching. The DOE with a diameter of 174.2 microm and a focal length of 150 microm is formed by means of dry etching. Such a compact device is suitable for the optical micro-system to deflect the incident light by 90 degrees and to focus it on the image plane simultaneously. The measured light pattern with a spot size of 15 microm has a good agreement with the simulated result of the elliptic-symmetry DOE with an off-axis design for eliminating the strongly astigmatic aberration. The coupling efficiency is enhanced over 10-folds of the case without a DOE on the 45 degrees micro-reflector. This device would facilitate the optical alignment of non-coplanar light coupling and further miniaturize the volume of microsystem.

Design of ideal structures for lossless bends in optical waveguides by conformal mapping

We propose an ideal structure for lossless bends in optical waveguides for the first time. The ideal structure is obtained by applying a series of conformal mappings to transform a single-mode straight waveguide into the equivalent bend configuration. The expressions used to determine the waveguide path and the refractive index are derived for the lossless bends with arbitrary bend angles, even up to 90/spl deg/. Also, variations in the waveguide path and the refractive index are illustrated by adopting lossless bends with six different bend angles (4, 10, 30, 45, 60, and 90/spl deg/). The simulated results show that the refractive-index distribution can be controlled within the range of interest for the practical bend structure. Moreover, the characteristics of the phase front for the modal field in a lossless bend are thoroughly discussed to verify that no transmitted power would be lost by conversion to radiation modes.

Enhancing the resonance quality factor in membrane-type resonant grating waveguides

In this Letter, we present a method of reducing the spectral width of guided-mode resonance (GMR) in air-bridged resonant grating-waveguide structures to enhance the Q factor. The posttreatment of adding a dielectric film to the bottom of the membrane to manipulate the resonance behavior is practicable. The introduced underlayer is shown to be capable of effectively reducing the coupling and enhancing the resonant Q factor. The proposed method provides an effective means of adjusting the resonance property without varying the original GMR structure. The results also imply that TM resonance is more feasible for achieving narrow resonance and potentially in sensing applications, because it has higher sensitivity than TE resonance.